Since launching the Psychedelic Support Line in 2021, the Fireside Project nonprofit has offered non-clinical emotional support from trained volunteers. Over five years of operation, the organization accumulated a massive trove of anonymized data regarding real-world drug use. Researchers and scientists from institutions in Paris and Geneva recently compiled information from 25,419 of these support calls, creating a database focused on psychedelic epidemiology. Conducted between April 2021 and February 2026, the data showed that while 60 percent of callers wanted to discuss psilocybin, the individuals most likely to reach out during an active high were not on classic psychedelics at all.
Data recorded by Fireside's 220 volunteers highlighted that cannabis users frequently sought help in states of panic or concern. Nearly half of the weed-related calls involved users reaching out over past or present consumption. Furthermore, cannabis users stood out in how they utilized the hotline. Roughly 70 percent of cannabis callers sought support while actively high, compared to only 25 percent calling for post-trip integration support. By contrast, callers dealing with MDMA or ketamine primarily sought help after their experiences ended, with integration assistance accounting for roughly 66 percent of MDMA distress calls and 59 percent of ketamine calls.
Researchers emphasized that these findings do not point to an intrinsic risk profile unique to marijuana, but rather reflect broader population prevalence. Cannabis is the most widely legalized psychoactive substance in the United States, drawing from a vastly larger user population than psilocybin or LSD. However, the sheer volume of over 2,000 cannabis-induced panic calls indicates that psychological distress related to the substance is a recurring real-world phenomenon. Fireside hopes this epidemiological database will assist policymakers in developing better harm-reduction frameworks and mental health crisis infrastructure that accounts for modern cannabis use.
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