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February 14, 2008

Use of Specific Hallucinogens: 2006

In Brief
  • In 2006, young adults aged 18 to 25 were more likely than youths aged 12 to 17 and adults aged 26 or older to be past year users of LSD, Ecstasy, and Salvia divinorum
  • Among youths, females were more likely than males to be past year users of Ecstasy, but males were more likely than females to be past year users of Salvia divinorum
  • Young adult males were more likely than young adult females to be past year users of LSD, Ecstasy, and Salvia divinorum

Hallucinogens are drugs that distort a person's perception of reality. Hallucinogens such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), phencyclidine (PCP), ketamine, and methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy) are man-made chemicals, while others, such as psilocybin mushrooms and the herb Salvia divinorum, occur in nature. These drugs can produce visual and auditory hallucinations, feelings of detachment from one's environment and oneself, and distortions in time and perception.1-3 Other effects can include mood swings, elevated body temperature and blood pressure, psychotic-like effects, seizures, and intense feelings of sensory detachment.1,2 Although some indicators of hallucinogen use have shown decreases in the past several years, the number of persons who first used Ecstasy in the past 12 months increased from 2005 to 2006, and the past year prevalence of this drug is showing signs of increase among young people.4-6 In addition, there is evidence suggesting the emergence of new hallucinogens, such as Salvia divinorum, which has been marketed as an "herbal high."7

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) asks persons aged 12 or older questions related to their use of any type of hallucinogen in the past year. The survey also asks about use of individual hallucinogens; questions specifically about LSD, PCP, and Ecstasy have been included for several years. Beginning with the 2006 survey, NSDUH also has included specific questions about past year use of ketamine, the tryptamine drugs dimethyltryptamine (DMT), alpha-methyltryptamine (AMT), and 5-methoxy-diisopropyltryptamine (5-MeO-DIPT or "Foxy"), and Salvia divinorum.8 This report examines the prevalence and patterns of the use of each of these hallucinogens among persons aged 12 or older. Estimates are based on data from the 2006 NSDUH.9

LSD, PCP, and Ecstasy

In 2006, approximately 23 million persons aged 12 or older used LSD in their lifetime (9.5 percent) and 6.6 million had used PCP in their lifetime (2.7 percent). However, fewer than 700,000 used LSD in the past year, and fewer than 200,000 used PCP in the past year (Figure 1). More than 12 million persons aged 12 or older had used Ecstasy in their lifetime (5.0 percent), and about 2.1 million (0.9 percent) did so in the past year.

Figure 1. Estimated Numbers (in Thousands) of Persons Aged 12 or Older Who Used LSD, PCP, or Ecstasy in Their Lifetime and in the Past Year: 2006
This figure is a vertical bar graph comparing estimated numbers (in thousands) of persons aged 12 or older who used LSD, PCP, or Ecstasy in their lifetime and in the past year: 2006. Accessible table located below this figure.

Figure 1 Table. Estimated Numbers (in Thousands) of Persons Aged 12 or Older Who Used LSD, PCP, or Ecstasy in Their Lifetime and in the Past Year: 2006
Hallucinogen Lifetime Past Year
LSD 23,346    666
PCP   6,618    187
Ecstasy 12,262 2,130
Source: SAMHSA, 2006 NSDUH.

Persons aged 18 to 25 were more likely than those aged 26 or older to be past year users of LSD, PCP, and Ecstasy (Table 1). Young adults aged 18 to 25 also were more likely to have used LSD and Ecstasy in the past year compared with youths aged 12 to 17. Youths and young adults had similar rates of past year use of PCP.

Table 1. Percentages and Standard Errors (SE)* of Past Year Hallucinogen Use** among Persons Aged 12 or Older, by Age Group: 2006
Hallucinogen 12 or Older 12 to 17 18 to 25 26 or Older
Percent SE Percent SE Percent SE Percent SE
LSD 0.3% 0.02 0.4% 0.05 1.2% 0.10 0.1% 0.02
PCP 0.1% 0.02 0.2% 0.04 0.2% 0.04  0.0+% 0.02
Ecstasy 0.9% 0.04 1.2% 0.09 3.8% 0.19 0.3% 0.04
Ketamine 0.1% 0.02 0.1% 0.03 0.2% 0.04 0.1% 0.02
DMT/AMT/Foxy***  0.0+% 0.01 0.1% 0.02 0.2% 0.05  0.0+% 0.01
Salvia divinorum 0.3% 0.02 0.6% 0.06 1.7% 0.12  0.0+% 0.01
Source: SAMHSA, 2006 NSDUH.

Females who were aged 12 to 17 were more likely than males in this age group to have used Ecstasy in the past year (Table 2). Young adult males aged 18 to 25 were nearly twice as likely as young adult females to have used LSD in the past year. Young adult males also were more likely than females in this age group to have used Ecstasy in the past year.

Table 2. Percentages and Standard Errors (SE)* of Past Year Hallucinogen Use** among Persons Aged 12 to 25, by Age Group and Gender: 2006
Hallucinogen 12 to 17 18 to 25
Male Female Male Female
Percent SE Percent SE Percent SE Percent SE
LSD 0.4% 0.07 0.4% 0.08 1.5% 0.15 0.8% 0.12
PCP 0.2% 0.06 0.3% 0.06 0.3% 0.06 0.2% 0.06
Ecstasy 1.0% 0.11 1.4% 0.14 4.3% 0.28 3.2% 0.24
Ketamine 0.1% 0.03 0.2% 0.05 0.3% 0.07 0.2% 0.04
DMT/AMT/Foxy*** 0.1% 0.03  0.0+% 0.01 0.3% 0.09 0.1% 0.03
Salvia divinorum 0.9% 0.10 0.3% 0.06 2.7% 0.20 0.7% 0.10
Source: SAMHSA, 2006 NSDUH.

Ketamine, DMT, AMT, Foxy, and Salvia divinorum

An estimated 2.3 million persons aged 12 or older used ketamine in their lifetime, and 203,000 were past year users (Figure 2). Almost 700,000 persons aged 12 or older had used DMT, AMT, or Foxy in their lifetime, and approximately 100,000 did so in the past year. About 1.8 million persons aged 12 or older used Salvia divinorum in their lifetime, and approximately 750,000 did so in the past year.

Figure 2. Estimated Numbers (in Thousands) of Persons Aged 12 or Older Who Used Ketamine, DMT, AMT, or Foxy, and Salvia divinorum** in Their Lifetime and in the Past Year: 2006
This figure is a vertical bar graph comparing estimated numbers (in thousands) of persons aged 12 or older who used Ketamine, DMT, AMT, or Foxy, and Salvia divinorum** in their lifetime and in the past year: 2006

Figure 2 Table. Estimated Numbers (in Thousands) of Persons Aged 12 or Older Who Used Ketamine, DMT, AMT, or Foxy, and Salvia divinorum** in Their Lifetime and in the Past Year: 2006
Hallucinogen Lifetime Past Year
Ketamine 2,277 203
DMT, AMT, or Foxy**    688 104
Salvia Divinorum 1,802 756
Source: SAMHSA, 2006 NSDUH.

Young adults aged 18 to 25 were more likely than adults aged 26 or older to have used ketamine, DMT, AMT, or Foxy, and Salvia divinorum in the past year (Table 1). Young adults also were nearly 3 times more likely than youths aged 12 to 17 to have used Salvia divinorum in the past year.

Among youths aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25, males were about 3 to 4 times more likely than females to have used Salvia divinorum in the past year (Table 2).

End Notes
1 National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2001). Hallucinogens and dissociative drugs, including LSD, PCP, ketamine, dextromethorphan (DHHS Publication No. 01-4209). Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. [Available at http://www.drugabuse.gov/ResearchReports/hallucinogens/hallucinogens.html]
2 National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2006, May). NIDA InfoFacts: MDMA (Ecstasy). Retrieved December 11, 2007, from http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofacts/ecstasy.html
3 U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of Diversion Control. (2007, August). Drugs and chemicals of concern: Salvia divinorum and salvinorin A. Retrieved December 11, 2007, from http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drugs_concern/salvia_d/salvia_d.htm
4 Office of Applied Studies. (2007). Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings (DHHS Publication No. SMA 07-4293, NSDUH Series H-32). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. [Available at http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/nsduh/reports.htm
]
5 National Drug Intelligence Center. (2006, October). National drug threat assessment 2007 (Report No. 2006-Q0317-003). Johnstown, PA: Author. [Available at http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs21/21137/index.htm]
6 Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G. & Schulenberg, J. E. (2007, December 11). Overall, illicit drug use by American teens continues gradual decline in 2007. University of Michigan News Service: Ann Arbor, MI. [Available at www.monitoringthefuture.org]
7 Dennehy, C. E., Tsourounis, C., & Miller, A. E. (2005). Evaluation of herbal dietary supplements marketed on the Internet for recreational use. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 39, 1634-1639.
8 The 2006 NSDUH National Findings report and detailed tables did not provide separate estimates for ketamine, the tryptamine hallucinogens, and Salvia divinorum, which are being presented in this report for the first time.
9 Estimates of use of LSD, PCP, and Ecstasy from the 2006 NSDUH include imputations for missing or otherwise unknown data on use in the lifetime and the past year for these drugs. However, no imputations were applied to measures of the use of ketamine, the tryptamine drugs DMT, AMT, and Foxy, and Salvia divinorum. Therefore, some respondents had missing data for lifetime or past year use of these drugs. Estimates for the latter three drugs may be conservative because respondents with missing data for the lifetime or past year periods were treated as though they were nonusers.

Table and Figure Notes
* Standard error (SE) is a measure of the sampling variability or precision of an estimate, where smaller values represent greater precision and larger values represent less precision.
** See end notes 8 and 9.
*** DMT = dimethyltryptamine; AMT = alpha-methyltryptamine; and 5-MeO-DIPT, or "Foxy" = 5-methoxy-diisopropyltryptamine.
+ Estimate rounded to zero.

Suggested Citation
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies. (February 14, 2008). The NSDUH Report - -  Use of Specific Hallucinogens: 2006. Rockville, MD.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) is an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).   The 2006 data on persons aged 12 or older are based on information obtained from 67,802 persons. The survey collects data by administering questionnaires to a representative sample of the population through face-to-face interviews at their place of residence.

The NSDUH Report is prepared by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS), SAMHSA, and by RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. (RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.)

Information on NSDUH used in compiling data for this issue is available in the following publication:

Office of Applied Studies. (2007). Results from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National findings (DHHS Publication No. SMA 07-4293, NSDUH Series H-32). Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Also available online: http://oas.samhsa.gov.

Because of improvements and modifications to the 2002 NSDUH, estimates from the 2002 through the 2006 surveys should not be compared with estimates from the 2001 or earlier versions of the survey to examine changes over time.

The NSDUH Report is published periodically by the Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). All material appearing in this report is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission from SAMHSA. Additional copies of this report or other reports from the Office of Applied Studies are available online: http://oas.samhsa.gov. Citation of the source is appreciated. For questions about this report, please e-mail: shortreports@samhsa.hhs.gov.

This page was last updated on December 30, 2008.