Consumption of psychedelics in Portugal

The study Psychedelic Consumption in Portugal 2024 aims to add information on the consumption of these substances by users resident in the country, taking into account the diversity of psychedelics, and to deepen the characterisation of this consumption and the consumers.

This is a study developed by ICAD in the context of the Portuguese module of the European Web Survey on Drugs 2024, an online survey promoted by the EUDA in co-operation with the National Focal Points.

The sample of 428 consumers of psychedelics who took part in this study in Portugal indicates a predominant consumption of MDMA, LSD, Psilocybin and Ketamine.

The vast majority (80 per cent) consider themselves to be recreational users, with occasional concomitant references to other types of use: psychonauts/explorers of psychoactive experiences (33 per cent), therapeutic use with conventional doses (17 per cent) or microdosing (13 per cent), as well as religious or spiritual use (15 per cent).

The most frequently selected motivations for consumption are to enhance fun and curiosity, with socialising with friends being the most frequently mentioned consumption situation, but there are significant variations depending on the psychedelic substance considered.