One in four people who took part in a survey on drugs said they had used pharmaceuticals for non-medical reasons over the previous six months.

The annual Drugs Trends Survey polled more than 10,000 people on drug use, prices, policy reform, help services and harm reduction.

The 2024 survey introduced two new topics: recreational and non-prescribed use of pharmaceuticals and the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

Twenty-seven percent of all respondents reported non-medical use of pharmaceuticals in the previous six months.

The survey found the most common reasons for using the pharmaceuticals were pain relief, sleep or relaxation and to get high or have fun.

Fifty-five per cent of respondents had been gifted the drugs from friends, 43 per cent had obtained them on prescription, and eight per cent bought them from a drug dealer.

The survey also found an increase in people sourcing psychedelics such as LSD to self-medicate.

Of the 5778 respondents who recently used psychedelics, MDMA and ketamine, 24 per cent reported using these and other psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

Dr Robin van der Sanden - of the New Zealand Drugs Research Team at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University's SHORE & Whāriki Research Centre - said there was a global 'psychedelic renaissance', particularly around the potential of substances like psilocybin, LSD, ketamine and MDMA to have therapeutic and medicinal benefits for mental health and wellbeing.

"Research of the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics is ongoing and clinical trials of LSD microdosing as a therapeutic aid for terminal cancer patients has recently been announced, while off-label prescribing of ketamine for depression and anxiety disorders is also used, but remains rare.

"There's also growing awareness of these potential benefits among the general public. As a result, we're seeing people increasingly sourcing psychedelics to self-medicate."

Dr Van der Sanden said that in New Zealand, most psychedelics were illegal.

"Continued illegal sourcing of psychedelics raises issues around their safety for therapeutic use and people's ability to correctly estimate dose and purity of the substances they might be taking for quite sensitive issues."

-RNZ