Legal status of psilocybin mushrooms

Thelegal status of unauthorised actions with psilocybin mushroomsvaries worldwide.Psilocybinandpsilocinare listed asSchedule I drugsunder the United Nations 1971Convention on Psychotropic Substances.Schedule I drugs are defined as drugs with a high potential for abuse or drugs that have no recognized medical uses. However, psilocybin mushrooms have had numerous medicinaland religious uses indozens of cultures throughout historyand have a significantly lower potential for abuse than other Schedule I drugs.
Psilocybinmushroomsare not regulated by UN treaties.Many countries, however, have some level of regulation or prohibition of psilocybin mushrooms (for example, the USPsychotropic Substances Act, the UKMisuse of Drugs Act 1971, and the CanadianControlled Drugs and Substances Act).
In some jurisdictions,Psilocybespores are legal to sell and possess, because they contain neither psilocybin nor psilocin.In other jurisdictions, they are banned because they are items that are used in drug manufacture. A few jurisdictions (such as the US states of California,Georgia,and Idaho) have specifically prohibited the sale and possession of psilocybin mushroom spores. Cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms is considered drug manufacture in most jurisdictions and is often severely penalized, though some countries and one US state (New Mexico) has ruled that growing psilocybin mushrooms does not qualify as "manufacturing" a controlled substance.
In the United States, psilocybin (and psilocin) were first subjected to federal regulation by the Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965, a product of abillsponsored by SenatorThomas J. Dodd. The law—passed in July 1965 and effected on 1 February 1966—was an amendment to the federalFood, Drug and Cosmetic Actand was intended to regulate the unlicensed "possession, manufacture, or sale of depressant, stimulant and hallucinogenic drugs".Thestatutesthemselves, however, did not list the "hallucinogenic drugs" that were being regulated.Instead, the term "hallucinogenic drugs" was meant to refer to those substances believed to have a "hallucinogenic effect on the central nervous system".
Despite the seemingly strict provisions of the law, many people were exempt from prosecution. The statutes "permit[ted] ... people to possess such drugs so long as they were for the personal use of the possessor, [for] a member of his household, or for administration to an animal".The federal law that specifically banned psilocybin and psilocin was enacted on 24 October 1968. The substances were said to have "a high potential for abuse", "no currently accepted medical use", and "a lack of accepted safety".On 27 October 1970, both psilocybin and psilocin became classified as Schedule I drugs and were simultaneously labeled "hallucinogens" under a section of theComprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Actknown as theControlled Substances Act.Schedule I drugs are illicit drugs that are claimed to have no known therapeutic benefit. Johns Hopkins researchers suggest that if psilocybin clears the current phase III clinical trials, it should be re-categorized to a schedule IV drug such as prescription sleep aids, but with tighter control.
TheUnited NationsConvention on Psychotropic Substances(adopted in 1971) requires its members to prohibit psilocybin, and parties to the treaty are required to restrict use of the drug to medical and scientific research under strictly controlled conditions. However, the mushrooms containing the drug were not specifically included in the convention, due largely to pressure from theMexican government.
Most nationaldrug lawshave been amended to reflect the terms of the convention; examples include the UKMisuse of Drugs Act 1971, the USPsychotropic Substances Actof 1978,AustraliaPoisons Standard(October 2015),the CanadianControlled Drugs and Substances Actof 1996,and the Japanese Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Law of 2002.The possession and use of psilocybin is prohibited under almost all circumstances, and often carries severe legal penalties.
Possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms, including the bluing species ofPsilocybe, is therefore prohibited by extension. However, in many national, state, and provincial drug laws, there has been a great deal of ambiguity about the legal status of psilocybin mushrooms, as well as a strong element ofselective enforcementin some places.Most USstate courtshave considered the mushroom a "container" of the illicit drugs, and therefore illegal. Aloopholefurther complicates the legal situation—the spores of psilocybin mushrooms do not contain the drugs, and are legal to possess in many areas. Jurisdictions that have specifically enacted or amended laws to criminalize the possession of psilocybin mushroom spores include Germany (since 1998),andCalifornia,Georgia, andIdahoin the United States. As a consequence, there is an activeunderground economyinvolved in the sale of spores and cultivation materials, and an internet-based social network to support the illicit activity.
On 3 November 2020, voters passed a ballotinitiativeinOregonthat made "magic mushrooms" legal for mental health treatment in supervised settings from 1 February 2021.There currently is a bill pending in theCalifornia State Legislaturethat would legalize the "possession, obtaining, giving away, or transportation of, specified quantities ofpsilocybin,psilocyn,dimethyltryptamine(DMT),ibogaine,mescaline,lysergic acid diethylamide(LSD), and3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine(MDMA)." The bill has been approved by theCalifornia State Senatewith 21 votes in favor of the same. The bill is currentlyin committee in theCalifornia State Assembly.
In November 2020, the District of Columbia passed initiative 81; the short title of the initiative was the Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 and it came into effect on March 15, 2021. This bill allows for the possession and non-for-profit gifting or distribution of psilocybin mushrooms, ibogaine, dimethyltryptamine (nn-DMT), and mescaline by similar measures as to the already in place bills for the possession and gifting of marijuana products.
On 5 October 2022, the Canadian province ofAlbertaannounced it would be among the first to regulate and allow the use of psilocybin,LSD,MDMA,mescaline,ketamine, andDMTfor medicinal purposes in drug-assisted psychotherapy. The new regulations came into effect in January 2023.In 2022,Coloradobecame the second US state to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms.
On 5 February 2023,Australiaapproved psilocybin and MDMA in prescription medications for the treatment ofPTSDandtreatment resistant depression. This went into effect on 1 July 2023.