The Relationship Between Naturalistic Psychedelic Use and Clinical Care in Canada

ABSTRACT

Naturalistic psychedelic use among Canadians is common. However, interactions about psychedelic use between patients and clinicians in Canada remain unclear. Via an anonymous survey, we assessed health outcomes and integration of psychedelic use with health care providers (HCP) among Canadian adults reporting past use of a psychedelic. The survey included 2,384 participants, and most (81.2%) never discussed psychedelic use with their HCP. While 33.7% used psychedelics to self-treat a health condition, only 4.4% used psychedelics with a therapist and 3.6% in a clinical setting. Overall, 44.8% (n = 806) of participants were aware of substance testing services, but only 42.4% ever used them. Multivariate regressions revealed that therapeutic motivation, higher likelihood of seeking therapist guidance, and non-binary gender identification were significantly associated with higher odds of discussing psychedelics with one’s primary HCP. Having used a greater number of psychedelics, lower age, non-female gender, higher education, and a therapeutic motivation were significantly associated with higher odds of awareness of substance testing. We conclude that naturalistic psychedelic use in Canada often includes therapeutic goals but is poorly connected to conventional healthcare, and substance testing is uncommon. Relevant training and education for HCPs is needed, along with more visible options for substance testing.

KEYWORDS:

• Psychedelics
• survey
• Canada
• substance testing
• healthcare

Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to the many participants who completed this survey.

Disclosure statement

Philippe Lucas, PhD., is a co-investigator in this study, as well as President of SABI Mind, a clinic group that co-sponsored the Canadian Psychedelic Survey. Kevin Boehnke, PhD., has received protocol development funding from Tryp Therapeutics and sits on a data safety and monitoring committee for Vireo Health (unpaid). Dr. Boehnke’s effort on this publication was partially supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number K01DA049219 (KFB). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Additional information

Funding

This study was partially funded by SABI Mind, MAPS Public Benefit Corps, and Psygen.