Why Ordinary People Risk Illegal Microdosing: Motivations, Experiences & Research
A podcast examining why significant numbers of people with no prior psychedelic experience or clinical recommendation choose to microdose psilocybin illegally — drawing on Hughes et al.'s research into motivations, reported benefits and harms, and what the dynamic, evolving nature of microdosing practice reveals about unmet mental health needs.
Source Research Papers
Citations in APA 7 format. All studies were sourced from peer-reviewed journals via Google Scholar. Unfamiliar terms? See the plain-language glossary →
Hughes, J., Stuart-Bennett, J., Dunning, M., & Farrimond, H. (2025). Towards a dynamic processual model of psychedelic microdosing. International Journal of Drug Policy, 136, 104691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104691
In-depth interviews show psilocybin microdosing isn't one fixed thing — the effects shift over time and vary a lot from person to person, pushing back on the idea that it reliably boosts performance.
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