Misinformation on Psychedelic Policy Endangers Public Health

When New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed NJ Senate Bill 2282 – formally known as the Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Therapy Pilot Program – into law earlier this month, the news was met with a flurry of headlines across the tri-state area. But within hours, advocates and legal experts noticed a troubling trend: The reporting didn't match the new legislation.

Denise Rue, founder of the New Jersey Psychedelic Therapy Association (NJPTA), has publicly criticized local and state media for their reporting on the bill. Rue specifically took to social media to decry coverage from ABC7 New York, calling it a "great example of inaccurate reporting & sensationalized headlines." While the legislation, originally introduced as A3852, establishes $6 million for a psilocybin-assisted therapy pilot program in controlled hospital settings, the bill does not "legalize" psilocybin under state law for retail or commercial sales.

"There is nothing here about legalizing magic mushrooms," Rue said. "[Articles like that] do nothing to further the reasonable discussion of psychedelic medicines."

The impact of the wave of inaccurate local and regional coverage was immediate, Rue said in a statement to DoubleBlind. Just days after the erroneous headlines, she noted that “NJPTA received a deluge of requests from individuals requesting psilocybin-assisted therapy,” but were unaware that the pilot program would only treat patients with qualifying conditions at just three hospital locations across the state. 

The misinformation train gathered steam as other outlets followed suit by covering the same story. ABC 6 Philadelphia ran a similar headline, and shortly thereafter, popular psychedelic education Instagram accounts, such as Psychedelic Support and its 31,000+ followers, also reposted the misleading headlines, further fanning the flames. The NJ Monitor proclaimed that legislators had advanced a bill to "legalize" the drug, while an editorial contributor for the Monitor wrote that the state passed a bill that could "change mental health treatment forever." On the airwaves, NJ 101.5 reported that the state "moved close to legalizing 'magic mushrooms'" following a committee vote in late 2025.

"When misinformation, even optimistic misinformation, spreads about psychedelics legislation, disastrous consequences can result," says Victoria Cvitanovic, a psychedelic and cannabis industry compliance attorney for Rudick Law Group LLP. Cvitanovic, a former prosecutor prior to her career in compliance law, warns that inaccurate media can unintentionally encourage illegal activity by suggesting substances are "legal" when they remain prohibited at both the state and federal levels.

"Inaccurate reporting can encourage businesses to change their behavior in ways that undermine the safety of their customers," Cvitanovic told DoubleBlind in an email. "Unreliable news stories can even make people think battles like decriminalization or expungements are won, directing advocacy attention and dollars away from the people who are serving prison time for these substances... Headlines don’t protect anyone when a raid is happening."

The gap in quality journalism extends beyond state-level pilot programs to the federal level, where a petition to reschedule psilocybin remains largely ignored by mainstream outlets. While cannabis rescheduling has dominated headlines for years, the potential for psilocybin to move from Schedule I to Schedule II — a shift that would legitimize its medical utility — has occurred in a relative media vacuum.

"The pending petition to reschedule psilocybin has the potential to bring seismic change for access to psilocybin-assisted therapy nationwide," said Kathryn Tucker, director of advocacy for the National Psychedelics Association and counsel on the petition. "This has not been as widely covered in the media as seems warranted."\

Tucker suggests this may be due to the assumption that the "dismal quagmire" of cannabis rescheduling — which was first set in motion under former President Joe Biden’s administration back in 2022 and is still pending nearly four years later — will inevitably bog down the timeline for rescheduling psilocybin. Tucker further argued that this ignores the multiple "breakthrough therapy" designations already granted to psilocybin by the FDA based on its potential to treat complex mental health conditions like Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Rescheduling psilocybin could allow access even before full FDA approval under the 2018 Right to Try Act, which allows patients with life-threatening illnesses who have exhausted approved treatments to use certain investigational therapies.

"There are surely those with commercial interests who would prefer the agencies to stall on the pending petition," Tucker said. "But there is no reason the agencies should delay action... given that terminally ill patients are dying daily who could obtain relief, and veterans are dying daily by suicide, which could be addressed with psilocybin therapy, action ought to be swift."

The prevalence of "clickbait" journalism — in the psychedelic beat and beyond — is fueled by a broader decline in political, civic, scientific, and media literacy across the United States. While the 2025 Annenberg Constitution Day Civics Survey shows that 70% of U.S. adults can now name all three branches of government – a record high – this basic knowledge has not translated into a sophisticated understanding of how complex state drug policies intersect with federal law.

A more alarming trend is evident among younger demographics. Research from Stanford University suggests that nearly all surveyed high school students were unable to correctly identify that a viral video purportedly showing "ballot stuffing” activities was, in fact, fake and had been filmed in Russia. Additionally, 96% were unable to identify the corporate interests behind information sites. This is particularly relevant given that 60% of Americans aged 18-34 now cite social media as their primary news source, according to Ipsos/Psychedelic Alpha polling.

The lack of critical thinking upon consumption is bolstered by falling academic standards across the U.S. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported a four-point decline in average 8th-grade science scores since 2019, while recent NCES figures show that as of January 2025, 54% of the U.S. adult population lacks the reading proficiency of a sixth-grader.

In such environments, "medical" claims on social media are rarely vetted. A 2025 University of Sydney study found that 70% of Instagram and TikTok posts endorsing unproven medical screenings were made by individuals with a direct financial stake in them. For the psychedelic industry, this means the public is increasingly vulnerable to "influencer-led" policy interpretations that prioritize engagement over legal accuracy, creating a dangerous feedback loop for patients and policymakers alike.

Roughly 33% of journalists have embraced the “creator” model, according to an October 2025 study by Muck Rack. This shift is expected to influence the future of accessible psychedelic journalism.

These creators operate outside the traditional newsroom, as they self-publish content ranging from hard news to personal analysis. Psychedelic journalists and news content creators comprise a significant portion of this independent media subset. Popular newsletters such as Tricycle Day and Ecstatic Integration report tens of thousands of individual subscribers worldwide. Meanwhile, independent outlets like Tripsitter operate exclusively through Substack, and other newsletter platforms, such as Beehiiv, now list “Psychedelics” as a pre-selectable subcategory for new users during the signup process.

Even DoubleBlind transitioned to a newsletter-first distribution model in late 2024. The move was driven in part by algorithmic restrictions facing independent psychedelic news and educational organizations on Google search and social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter/X.

While these ecosystem contractions have benefited those able to navigate the changing market, other outlets have been less successful. For example, Psychedelic Spotlight attempted an artificial intelligence-generated reboot in 2024 that lasted only four months. It is one of several defunct psychedelic news outlets that remain online but inactive, alongside Psychedelic Science Review, Psychedelic Times, and Psychedelic News Wire.

Initially, traditional media organizations have shown reluctance to embrace the rise of the creator-journalist. However, in recent years, prominent academic institutions like the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics have collaborated with psychedelic publications like Psychedelic Alpha and Sex and Psychedelics, marking a stark evolution for elite American universities that once ran psychedelic pioneers like Timothy Leary and Ram Dass out of higher academia altogether. Similarly, prestigious journalism organizations, like The Lenfest Institute, have created resources such as its Guide to Identifying Credible Local Journalism Creators, and Harvard University’s Department of Continuing Education now offers a Content Creator Journalism Course.

Beyond the psychedelic media and policy paradigms, psychedelic use is increasing year over year in the U.S. at a steady rate. A recent report from the RAND Corp. found that 10 million Americans tried at least one psychedelic in 2025. That number is expected to rise further once the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves pharmaceutical giant Compass Pathways' patented synthetic psilocybin compound, COMP360, which is anticipated by the end of this year.

Additionally, the legislative landscape is shifting just as rapidly. By the end of January 2025, 16 states had filed more than 30 psychedelic-related bills, with additional states expected to enter the policy reform race in the coming weeks. As these substances move from underground to mainstream clinical and regulatory frameworks, the burden of accurate reporting becomes a public health issue.

To navigate the surge of scientific and media misinformation, journalists, researchers, and enthusiasts must prioritize rigorous verification and radical transparency. To Sam Chapman - Founder of and Executive Director for the Center for Psychedelic Policy, responsible media stewardship, it “isn’t just about controlling the narrative. It’s about owning it by proactively engaging the media when we know coverage is coming,” said Chapman. “Bills often change significantly as they move through the process.”

As psychedelic use increases and policy reform outpaces the public’s understanding of it, the consequences of misinformation are no longer abstract. For advocates working at the intersection of media, legislation, and public health, accuracy has to arrive before narratives calcify — not after.

“These moments are an opportunity for advocates to engage reporters directly, clarify amendments, request corrections when needed, and build trusted relationships so future coverage reflects where legislation actually lands,” Chapman concluded, “while helping educate the public about where thoughtful policy design is headed.”

💌 If you loved this email, forward it to a psychonaut in your life.

Editorial Process

DoubleBlind is a trusted resource for news, evidence-based education, and reporting on psychedelics. We work with leading medical professionals, scientific researchers, journalists, mycologists, indigenous stewards, and cultural pioneers. Read about our editorial policy and fact-checking process here.