Voter support for psychedelic research, therapy and prescription access all surged. Decrim didn’t move. A new Berkeley survey says it out loud.
The Short Version
Voter support for psychedelic research jumped 14 points to 63% in two years.
Support for prescription-medicine access climbed 12. Therapeutic-use legalization rose 10.
Decriminalization moved a statistically insignificant one point.
The medical track is winning the country. The liberation track is stuck.
Decriminalization is the line that didn’t move.
Two years of polling. Every other major psychedelic policy idea tracked by the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics gained ground with American voters. Support for making psychedelic research easier jumped 14 points. Backing for prescription-medicine access climbed 12. Therapeutic-use legalization rose 10. The numbers point at the doctor’s office.
Removing criminal penalties for personal possession? Twenty-nine percent in 2023. Twenty-eight percent in 2025. Nonsignificant.
Read that again. The decrim wing has been pushing the same argument for two years, and the public has not moved an inch.
That’s the takeaway in A Rising Tide of Cautious Support, the second annual UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey, released this month. The headline numbers tell a story of momentum. The breakdown tells a different one. The psychedelic movement is winning on medical terms and losing on liberation terms. The gap is widening fast.
Two years of polling. One line didn’t move.
What Moved
Make research easier
49% → 63% (+14)
Prescription medicine
29% → 41% (+12)
Therapeutic use legal
36% → 46% (+10)
What Didn’t
Decriminalize personal use
29% → 28% (-1, not significant)
Source: UC Berkeley Psychedelics Survey, 2025. n = 1,577 registered U.S. voters.
The Numbers That Moved, And The One That Didn’t
BCSP surveyed 1,577 registered voters between April 16 and 28, 2025. FM3 Research handled sampling and weighting. Margin of error: plus or minus 2.5 points.
Worth flagging upfront: the survey was funded by two anonymous donors. Doesn’t disqualify anything, but it’s the detail skeptics …
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Author: Javier Hasse / High Times
