America’s First Legal Psilocybin Program Treated 346 People. Here’s What Happened.

Oregon’s pioneering state-regulated psilocybin program has delivered notable results in its first major evaluation. Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University examined 346 participants who received supervised psilocybin doses between November 2024 and June 2026, tracking their mental health outcomes over a three-month period. The findings revealed significant improvements across multiple conditions that frequently resist conventional treatment approaches.

Participants demonstrated dramatic reductions in psychiatric symptoms following their psilocybin sessions. The proportion reporting moderate-to-severe PTSD dropped from 48 percent to just 16.8 percent, while anxiety cases fell from 45.1 percent to 13.2 percent. Depression showed similar declines, decreasing from 42.2 percent to 16.5 percent. Notably, 92.2 percent of participants reported the experience as beneficial within one month, and overall life satisfaction increased from 63 percent to 82.3 percent by the three-month mark.

However, the research also identified potential risks. Four participants, representing 1.2 percent of the group, experienced serious adverse reactions requiring medical intervention, including one person transported to a hospital after violent behavior. All four individuals were new to psychedelics and received higher doses. Researchers note this study cannot definitively prove psilocybin caused the improvements due to its real-world design lacking a control group, and the participant sample skewed toward white, affluent individuals.

The program marks a significant milestone as the first large-scale examination of psilocybin use outside controlled clinical settings. Since opening in mid-2023, over 20,000 Oregonians have accessed regulated psilocybin services through licensed facilities.

Originally reported by Sciencealert →