(1) Objectives:
Hallucinogens are being explored as a potential treatment of
psychiatric disorders. Micro dosing of illicitly purchased
hallucinogen drugs is on the rise despite conclusive benefits. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and odds of hopelessness, suicidality, and co-occurring
substance use among adolescent
hallucinogen users. (2) Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) 2001−2019 data that nationally represents school-going US adolescents. We identified
hallucinogen use based on the survey questions, exploring the use of
hallucinogens (
LSD, PCP,
mescaline, and mushrooms). (3) Results: Out of a total of 125,550 respondents, 8.4% reported using
hallucinogens. Overall, the trend of
hallucinogen use decreased from 13.3% (2001) to 7.0% (2019) (pTrend < 0.0001).
Hallucinogen users were at high odds of feeling sad and hopeless (aOR: 1.40; 95%CI: 1.21−1.61; p < 0.0001), considering suicide (aOR: 1.36; 95%CI: 1.08−1.70; p = 0.009), and planning suicide (aOR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.19−1.86; p = 0.001). Additionally, adolescent
hallucinogen users had a higher prevalence of alcohol, cigarette, e-cigarette, marijuana, synthetic marijuana, inhalants,
heroin,
cocaine,
methamphetamine, and ecstasy use. (4) Conclusions: The overall trend of
hallucinogen use decreased among school-going American adolescents. We found a high prevalence of co-occurring
substance use among
hallucinogen users. We found that
hallucinogen users were at high odds of feeling sad, hopeless, and considering and planning suicide. Further research is needed to explore the effects of recreational
hallucinogen use among the adolescent population.