Global Drug Survey — Psychedelics Research Program
The largest annual drug use survey in the world — producing real-world population-level data on psilocybin use that complements clinical trial findings.
Type: International Research
Location: London, UK (International)
Members: 110,000+ annual survey respondents
Membership: Annual anonymous survey — open to all
Venues: Online — international reach
Activities: Annual Global Drug Survey — the largest drug use survey in the world, producing population-level data on psilocybin use patterns, harm rates, help-seeking behavior, and self-reported outcomes. Psychedelic-specific modules have produced some of the most widely cited real-world data on psilocybin use.
About
Global Drug Survey's annual survey, now reaching over 110,000 respondents worldwide, is the most comprehensive source of real-world population-level data on psychedelic drug use patterns. Founded by Adam Winstock, MD, PhD, the survey's psychedelic-specific modules have produced landmark findings including: dose-response data for psilocybin-related emergency medical treatment-seeking (less than 0.2% of psilocybin uses result in emergency care), comparative harm data across drug classes, data on the prevalence of challenging experiences and their relationship to set and setting, and survey-based outcome data on self-reported depression, anxiety, and wellbeing effects.
For the psilocybin research community, Global Drug Survey data serves as an essential counterpart to controlled clinical trial findings — providing ecologically valid evidence about how psilocybin actually performs in real-world use rather than supervised research settings. The gap between clinical trial and real-world data is significant for any drug; for psilocybin, GDS helps fill it.
GDS also produces the annual Drug Metrics report, which provides harm benchmarks for international drug policy discussions.
Why It Matters
Real-world population data on psychedelic use is extraordinarily scarce compared to clinical trial data. GDS is the primary source for policymakers and researchers who need evidence about what actually happens when large numbers of people use psilocybin outside controlled settings.
