For over 50 years, psilocybin has been classified as a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act, meaning that it has no currently accepted medical use. While psilocybin is illegal in nearly all 50 states, successful ballot initiatives in Colorado1 and Oregon2 have legalized psilocybin services for adults, and decriminalized the possession and use of psilocybin in limited quantities. Over a dozen U.S. cities have passed resolutions deprioritizing the enforcement of existing laws prohibiting the possession, use, and in some cases cultivation of natural medicines including psilocybin.
These reforms are in part the product of FDA clinical trials proving psilocybin’s safety, and promising results of clinical trials investigating psilocybin’s efficacy as a treatment for various mental health conditions. However, until psilocybin receives FDA approval status, it will remain classified as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, and correspondingly, will remain illegal under state law other than those where legalization laws are passed.
Psilocybin Mushroom Legality
Things to Know
- After 50 years of prohibition, laws governing psilocybin mushrooms are changing
- Oregon and Colorado have legalized the supported adult use of psilocybin under the supervision of trained facilitators
- Over a dozen cities have deprioritized the possession of psilocybin
- As a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act, psilocybin remains federally illegal
- Forms of psilocybin are legal in some countries
Psilocybin Legalization in the U.S.
Both Oregon and Colorado have passed ballot initiatives that legalize supported adult use of psilocybin. “Supported adult use” refers to a regulatory framework in which adults can legally use psilocybin at licensed services centers under the supervision of trained facilitators.
Oregon’s Measure 109, the Psilocybin Services Act, passed in 2020. As of this writing, the state has awarded two licenses to service centers. Several jurisdictions have opted out of allowing service centers in their counties, meaning that supported adult use services are not available there.
In 2022, Colorado voters passed Proposition 122, the Decriminalization and Regulated Access Program for Certain Psychedelic Plants and Fungi Initiative. This initiative legalized a supported adult use program, as well as an unregulated personal use framework. The newly established Natural Medicine Advisory Board will make recommendations for the qualifications, education, and training requirements that facilitators must meet in order to be approved as a service provider. Once these rules are adopted by the relevant state agencies, the program will begin accepting applications for licensure of training programs, service centers, manufacturing facilities, and laboratories. This initiative also decriminalized the possession of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelic plants for personal use. Though sale, commercial cultivation and distribution remain illegal, a group or individual can accept payment for auxiliary or support services provided alongside a decriminalized substance.
Psilocybin Research Legislation in the U.S.
Some states in the U.S. have passed legislation to fund research of psilocybin mushrooms, following decades when research had been halted as a consequence of the drug war.
In June 2021, the Texas legislature passed a bill to allow the Department of State Health Services to study the efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy for mental health issues. Maryland also passed a legislation to give the state Department of Health the ability to study the effectiveness of psilocybin-assisted therapies for PTSD in veterans. In 2023, Nevada’s governor signed into law a bill to permit psilocybin mushroom research. Legislation has also been introduced in Arizona, Minnesota, and North Carolina to allow researchers to conduct clinical trials looking at the efficacy of psilocybin as a potential treatment for numerous conditions.
Psilocybin Legalization Internationally
Psilocybin mushrooms are still widely illegal in most countries. Prohibition of psilocybin began with the UN 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances,3 a meeting of the United Nations in Vienna Austria that aimed to suppress the rising popularity of psychedelics.
In recent years, global perspectives toward psilocybin mushrooms have started to evolve. Canada4 has a compassionate access amendment allowing qualifying patients to access psilocybin and MDMA. There are also numerous mushroom dispensaries in Canada.5 While they aren’t technically legal, they operate mostly6 unbothered by the police.
Psilocybin mushrooms remain illegal in Mexico, despite how easy it is to find retreats facilitating mushroom ceremonies, particularly in San Jose del Pacifico and Huautla de Jimenez. Some say there is de facto decriminalization in certain parts of the country. Others say the law is mostly unenforced. If you’re a tourist in the area, it’s best to only attend vetted mushroom retreat centers and not purchase mushrooms from strangers.
The Netherlands7 is known for its tolerance of psilocybin mushrooms, specifically magic truffles, which are the mycelium root structure of the fruiting mushroom body. Up until 2008, psychedelic mushrooms were considered “soft drugs” and legal to purchase in places, like “smart shops.”8 Post 2008, psilocybin-containing mushrooms are considered “hard drugs.” “Magic truffles,” which are clusters of hardened mycelium called “sclerotium,” aren’t covered by the law; this legal loophole makes them available. Spores and grow kits are also included in the loophole. Magic mushroom retreat centers in the Netherlands are common and openly advertised to the public.
In 2023, Australia9 became the first country to legalize MDMA and psilocybin mushroom therapy for people suffering from Treatment-Resistant Depression and Major Depression. Beginning in July 2023, psychiatrists in Australia will be able to write prescriptions for medical use, pursuant to approval from the government.
In Thailand magic mushrooms are illegal, but enforcement has loosened considerably in the past decade. Vendors on islands such as Koh Samui and Koh Phangan are known for openly selling “happy shakes,”10 or shroom milkshakes and fruit smoothies.
Jamaica11 is one of the few countries in the world where psilocybin mushrooms are legal — the country never made the mushrooms illegal — to cultivate, possess, and sell. Thus, a thriving psychedelic tourism and spiritual retreat industry has blossomed there.
Portugal12 decriminalized the possession of all drugs in 2001, offering relaxed enforcement of psilocybin mushrooms. It is still illegal to sell and distribute psilocybin mushrooms, however, and offenses may be met with enforced rehab or therapy. In extreme cases of repeat offenders, prison time is still possible.
Psilocybin Decriminalization U.S.
While city de-prioritization initiatives are often referred to as “decriminalization”, this is a misnomer. “Decriminalization” refers to the removal or reduction of criminal penalties, whereas “de-prioritization” does not amend any state or federal laws. The possession, use, cultivation and sale of drugs remain illegal in deprioritized jurisdictions such as Oakland, Santa Cruz, Cambridge, and Ann Arbor.
Over a dozen U.S. cities have decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms. In some cases this has been part of initiatives that cover a number of psychedelic plants and fungi. City-level decriminalization requires law enforcement to not expend resources targeting people or groups for possession or consumption of psilocybin mushrooms and other psychedelics.
In 2019, Denver, Colorado was the first city to pass a psilocybin decriminalization ballot initiative. Other cities that have passed resolutions to deprioritize mushrooms and psychedelic plants include Oakland, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, and Arcata, California; Ann Arbor and Hazel Park Michigan; Cambridge, Sommerville, and Northampton, Massachusetts; Washington, D.C.; and Seattle, Jefferson County, and Port Townsend, Washington.
