What Will People Think? Revealing Public Knowledge, Belief, and Perceptions of Psychedelics

As the psychedelic field experiences exponential growth, many of its goals will be directly affected in significant ways by what the general public knows and believes about psychedelic substances. But aside from narrowly focused opinion research tied to specific political efforts, the field has not had an evidence-based understanding of those public perceptions and knowledge. Until now. In this session, Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics executive director Imran Khan will present the findings of the inaugural Psychedelic Insight Poll, a national baseline survey that serves as the cornerstone of a multi-year opinion research program launched by BCSP in 2023 to provide the entire psychedelic community with data-driven insights into the general public’s beliefs, hopes, fears, and questions about psychedelics and psychedelic therapies. The Psychedelic Insight Poll will be conducted annually to more fully understand public perceptions, track how those perceptions shift over time, and examine how current events, research discoveries, media and communications efforts, business strategies, and other activity in the field are influencing those shifts.