Of all substance use disorders, other hallucinogen use disorder is one of the rarest. The 12-month prevalence is estimated to be 0.5% among 12- to 17-year-olds and 0.1% among adults age 18 and older in the United States. Rates are higher in adult males (0.2%) compared with females (0.1%), but the opposite is observed in adolescent samples ages 12—17, in which the 12-month rate is slightly higher in females (0.6%) than in males (0.4%). Rates are highest in individuals younger than 30 years, with the peak occurring in individuals ages 18—29 years (0.6%) and decreasing to virtually 00% among individuals age 45 and older.
There are marked ethnic differences in 12-month prevalence of other hallucinogen use disorder. Among youths ages 12—17 years, 12-month prevalence is higher among Native
Americans and Alaska Natives (1.2%) than among Hispanics (0.6%), whites (0.6%), Afri- can Americans (0.2%), and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (0.2%). Among adults, 12-month prevalence of other hallucinogen use disorder is similar for Native Americans and Alaska Natives, whites, and Hispanics (all 0.2%) but somewhat lower for Asian Amer- icans and Pacific Islanders (0.07%) and African Americans (0.03%). Past-year prevalence is higher in clinical samples (e.g., 19% in adolescents in treatment). Among individuals cur- rently using hallucinogens in the general population, 7.8% (adult) to 17% (adolescent) had a problematic pattern of use that met criteria for past-year other hallucinogen use disorder.
Among select groups of individuals who use hallucinogens (e.g., recent heavy ecstasy use), 73.5% of adults and 77% of adolescents have a problematic pattern of use that may meet other hallucinogen use disorder criteria.
Unlike most substances where an early age at onset is associated with elevations in risk for the corresponding use disorder, it is unclear whether there is an association of an early age at onset with elevations in risk for other hallucinogen use disorder. However, patterns of drug consumption have been found to differ by age at onset, with early-onset ecstasy users more likely to be polydrug users than their later-onset counterparts. There may be a dis- proportionate inﬂuence of use of specific hallucinogens on risk of developing other hallu- cinogen use disorder, with use of ecstasy/MDMA increasing the risk of the disorder relative to use of other hallucinogens.
Little is known regarding the course of other hallucinogen use disorder, but it is generally thought to have low incidence, low persistence, and high rates of recovery. Adolescents are es- pecially at risk for using these drugs, and it is estimated that 2.7% of youths ages 12—17 years have used one or more of these drugs in the past 12 months, with 44% having used ecstasy/
MDMA. Other hallucinogen use disorder is a disorder observed primarily in individuals younger than 30 years, with rates vanishingly rare among older adults.