Where Are Magic Mushrooms Legal?

Psilocybin-containing mushrooms grow abundantly across all of the world’s continents, aside from Antarctica. Despite the growing evidence of their beneficial effects, they remain mostly illegal—but times are changing. An increasing number of cities and regions are rethinking their relationships with psychedelic fungi, and changing their legal status.

“Much of the world is now operating under an ‘ask, don’t tell’ decriminalization model, especially across South and Central America,” says James Bunn, a freelance consultant who works with charity Drug Science and psychedelic lobbying groups. “Canada is slowly moving towards a legal medical model, while US states and cities are decriminalizing,” with Oregon and Colorado legalizing regulated psilocybin sessions.

Where Are Magic Mushrooms Legal (USA)?

Psilocybin, the primary psychoactive compound in magic mushrooms, is still a federally-controlled Schedule I drug; meaning that psilocybin mushrooms are considered to have no medically accepted use and carry a high potential for abuse. But FDA-approved trials for the designated breakthrough therapy continue after studies found psilocybin combined with psychotherapy can help ease severe depression. It is possible that psilocybin could be available through a doctor’s prescription at some point next year. And it’s worth mentioning: it is not an offense for magic mushrooms to grow on your land; it would be impossible to preclude the natural process.

A flurry of local and state initiatives providing layers of either protection or non-prosecution for psilocybin consumers are underway—in part thanks to the direct democracy framework enjoyed in certain parts of the US. “The legal status of psilocybin in North America is changing almost every day,” says Bunn.

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There are a number of avenues for reform, he adds—whether through ballot initiatives, state and municipal reform, or federal changes to legislation and funding—while a small number of dispensaries, some more visible than others, are opening mostly online in places which have decriminalized. “They’re operating on a ‘let’s see if we get caught’ gray area,” says Bunn. “They’re not legally able to do it but if no one enforces the law, is it a law at all?”

So Are Shrooms Legal in Oregon and Colorado?

The majority of magic mushroom decriminalization initiatives have been city-level ordinances, but some states are budging toward limited forms of magic mushroom legalization, decriminalization, and other forms of reform, like easing barriers to research. More than half a dozen states have established working groups to study medical uses.

Psilocybin Legalization in Oregon

In Oregon, the first state in the country to legalize supported psilocybin journeys, hundreds of people have now undergone legal guided sessions. In 2020, the state legalized guided psilocybin experiences via the “Psilocybin Services Act,” which allows adults to partake in psilocybin at licensed centers with a trained facilitator. 

Measure 109 allows anyone above the age of 21 to take psilocybin in a licensed service center with a trained facilitator. To qualify as a trained facilitator, a person must be a high-school graduate and participate in a state-approved educational program. The Oregon Health Authority began issuing licenses for service centers in January 2023. California, New York, and Washington, among other states, have considered following suit in some form, and several others are decriminalizing after a dozen cities and counties did so to some degree.

Also in 2020, Oregon voters decriminalized personal possession of up to 12 grams of psilocybin mushrooms via ballot Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of all drugs in the state. The bill was considered a major win by advocates who believe that psychedelics shouldn’t be decriminalized on their own, but a part of broader criminal justice reform. The bill, however, is now in the process of being repealed and replaced with a new bill which would reinstate criminal penalties for the possession of drugs.

Are Magic Mushrooms Legal in Colorado?

Colorado voters in November 2022 passed a ballot measure to legalize regulated therapy while decriminalizing personal use and possession of some psychedelics. The bill, Proposition 122, allows adults aged 21 and over to possess and grow psilocybin mushrooms for personal use. It also decriminalized the possession of ibogaine, DMT, and mescaline. With the exception of ibogaine, people can gift or share these natural psychedelics—but not sell them. The bill also legalizes a therapeutic structure similar to Oregon, legalizing facilitated adult use.

In contrast to Oregon’s Measure 109, however, Colorado’s psychedelic laws allow unlicensed facilitators to provide harm reduction services to those interested in using psychedelic substances, so long as the provider declares that they are unlicensed. Unlicensed facilitators can gift these natural psychedelics to their clients, but they cannot advertise that they do so, nor can they sell psychedelics. Denver, the state capital, had already decriminalized.

Are Shrooms Legal in Texas?

The state legislature last year made Texas the first US state to fund a psychedelic medicine trial to assess the use of psilocybin to ease post-traumatic stress disorder among war veterans. But, it did not decriminalize the use of magic mushrooms.

Cities 

Most psychedelic decriminalization initiatives are taking place on the city level, where city councils have the power Most psychedelic decriminalization initiatives are taking place on the city level, where city councils have the power to make requests of local law enforcement. In some cases, like in Detroit, city residents have had the chance to vote via ballot initiative, as in Oregon and Colorado.  It’s important to note, however, that the term “decriminalization” is misleading. While these resolutions are often promoted as “decriminalization” measures, they’re actually “deprioritization” measures. This means that they direct local law enforcement to make the possession of magic mushrooms and other natural psychedelics a low priority.

Here is the status of magic mushroom decriminalization in the United States, city by city.

Arcata, CA

The city council of Arcata, California, deprioritized a range of natural psychedelic substances in October 2021. The ordinance called for prosecutions for the possession and cultivation of natural psychedelics like psilocybin and ayahuasca to be among the lowest priorities for law enforcement. Commercial sales are not allowed. The council asked the Humboldt County District Attorney “to consider the spirit and intent of this resolution when evaluating whether to prosecute persons involved in the use of Entheogenic Plants and Fungi.” A statewide measure to decriminalize all psychedelics was blocked by the governor in October 2023.

San Francisco, CA 

In September of 2022, news outlets reported that San Francisco city council unanimously decriminalized psychedelics, including magic mushrooms. That said, it’s not that simple. The resolution “urges” the city’s law enforcement organizations to make the “cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with, and/or possessing” psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine, and mescaline-bearing cacti “amongst the lowest law enforcement priority for the city.” That said, as of this time, it’s unclear where the District Attorney’s office, Sheriff’s Office, and Police Department stand on it. In general, it’s important to be critical when looking at resolutions that have “decriminalized” to see how much teeth they have in their jurisdictions. Read about the controversies around what San Francisco’s psychedelic decriminalization measure actually means in an opEd we published.

Denver, CO

In May 2019, the city of Denver in Colorado became the first across the US to decriminalize magic mushrooms via Initiated Ordinance 301, a ballot vote after the requisite amount of signatures had been reached. Arrests and prosecutions were already rare, but the move provided further comfort to psychonauts and served as a bellwether moment for the country, providing inspiration for activists elsewhere to further measures to liberalize the laws prohibiting the use of entheogenic fungi. The state of Colorado decriminalized psilocybin mushrooms in 2022.

Read: Inside the “Psychedelic Exceptionalism Debate

Oakland, CA

In June of 2019, shortly after the Denver vote, Oakland city council unanimously and widely deprioritized magic mushrooms and other psychedelics such as peyote, ayahuasca, and iboga following campaigning by Decriminalize Nature Oakland. Decriminalize Nature created a template that was then replicated by jurisdictions across the country, with one noteworthy amendment being the exclusion of peyote, at the request of the Native American Church.

Santa Cruz, CA 

Santa Cruz soon followed suit on January 28, 2020, when the city council unanimously voted to deprioritize entheogenic plants and fungi, making them the lowest priority for local law enforcement and stipulating that councilors will not provide funding or use city resources toward the arrests or investigations related to naturally occurring entheogens for adults 21 and older.

Berkeley, CA

In July 2023, the City of Berkeley decriminalized the possession of all psychedelic plants, aside from peyote. However, they did not permit sharing or gifting. “We have to pull personal use out of the shadows so that people feel comfortable obtaining information and medical care without fear of prosecution,” council member Sophie Hahn told local media.

Washington DC

Washington DC also passed a measure to decriminalize shrooms and other psychedelics in November 2020 via DC Initiative 81. The initiative passed with 76 percent of the vote and was backed by Decriminalize Nature DC with financial contributions from David Bronner, CEO of Dr. Bronner’s Soaps. Like other decriminalization initiatives, natural psychedelics are to remain among law enforcement’s lowest priorities.

Seattle, WA

In October of 2021, the Seattle city council unanimously passed a resolution to make “the investigation, arrest, and prosecution of anyone engaging in entheogen-related activities” among the city’s “lowest enforcement priorities.” Decriminalize Nature Seattle lobbied the city council for the changes. It became the largest city to deprioritize psychedelics.

Detroit, MI

Detroit also passed a similar measure in November of 2021, with 61 percent of voters approving ballot Proposal E. The proposal decriminalized entheogenic plants and fungi, making them among the lowest priorities for law enforcement.

Read: Decriminalization vs. Legalization: What’s the Difference?

Port Townsend, WA

On December 20, 2021, Port Townsend city council passed Resolution 21-088, a deprioritization initiative modeled after Seattle’s decriminalization measures, passed by the Seattle city council earlier that year. Port Townsend City Attorney Heidi Greenwood articulated that the city’s resolution included suggestions made by the Port Townsend Psychedelic Society, which had lobbied the council for over two years. 

Somerville, Salem, Easthampton, Northampton, and Cambridge, MA 

Five Massachusetts cities have deprioritized offenses related to psilocybin mushrooms and many other entheogenic plants. The Somerville city council voted to decriminalize natural entheogens in January of 2021. Cambridge followed suit a few weeks later in February. Northampton city council voted to decriminalize in April of the same year. Easthampton city council voted to decriminalize in October. Pursuing arrests and cases related to entheogenic plants and fungi is now among law enforcement’s lowest priorities. Salem followed suit in May 2023. Read more about ongoing debates in Massachusetts about the best way to change psychedelic laws at the state level in our feature reported by Nick Hilden.

Minneapolis, MN

Minneapolis became the first city in the upper midwest to deprioritize offenses related to natural psychedelics in July 2023. Mayor Jacob Frey issued an executive order making psilocybin, ayahuasca, mescaline, iboga, and tryptamines among law enforcement’s lowest priorities, citing their therapeutic potential. “With a rise in deaths of despair in our city, and in our society, the data is showing that these plants can help be a remedy,” he said. The city still prioritizes enforcing laws related to their sale, however. Police chief Brian O’Hara said he stood by the mayor’s decision.

Counties

Magic mushroom decriminalization can also happen at the county level in the United States, where county prosecutors hold the power to decide whether or not local courts will bring psilocybin offenses to trial. However, at the time of writing, only one county has officially decriminalized magic mushrooms. 

Washtenaw County, MI

The city council of Ann Arbor, Michigan—Washtenaw County’s largest city unanimously passed a resolution to decriminalize the non-commercial use and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi in September 2020.  

The police department said it was already a low priority, and the county Prosecutor’s Office later issued a directive saying related offenses—apart from driving while tripping—were its lowest priority. “It is the policy of the Prosecutor’s Office not to prosecute entheogenic plant use, growth, and possession across Washtenaw County,” it said. 

“Prosecuting entheogenic-plant use or possession is not in the interest of justice. Naturally-occurring entheogenic plants are not generally addictive, nor do they present a significant risk of a fatal overdose. Entheogenic plants, moreover, are not associated with violent behavior. Just the opposite: the use of psilocybin mushrooms has been associated with reduced partner violence in men.”

Read: States Are Embracing Psychedelics, Paving the Way for FDA Approval

Countries Where Magic Mushrooms are Legal—Sort Of

Seekers may be able to access psilocybin and other entheogenic plants in other countries, where retreat centers and “smartshops” fuel psychedelic tourism. “There are no barriers to drug decriminalization under international law,” says Steve Rolles, senior drug policy analyst at Transform Drug Policy Foundation. “Generally in domestic law enforcement, psychedelics such as magic mushrooms are a relatively low priority already, so the jump to formal or informal decriminalization of psychedelics is relatively small in practical and political terms.”

Australia

In June 2023, Australia became the first country in the world to down-schedule psilocybin mushrooms to make it available as a clinical treatment, for treatment-resistant depression. Authorized psychiatrists are the only legal prescribers, according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) rules. When used as medicine, psilocybin is categorized as a Schedule 8 controlled substance. All other uses are prohibited, categorized as Schedule 9. The TGA acknowledged at the time of its surprise announcement in February 2023, “the current lack of options for patients with specific treatment-resistant mental illnesses.”

Mexico 

In Mexico, the possession of small quantities of psychedelic drugs for “immediate and personal consumption” is not punishable as a crime, although it would not be advisable to flaunt their use in front of police. Mushroom use is tolerated, even encouraged, in two towns in the southern state of Oaxaca—San Jose del Pacifico and Huautla de Jimenez—which are known for their availability of magic mushrooms. One senator is in the process of gathering support for legalization. 

That said, people with an ancestral tie to mushrooms in this region say it’s incredibly important for tourists to approach the medicine with reverence and to be mindful of how foraging in the region impacts the supply for locals. If you’re going to Mexico in search of mushrooms, we highly encourage you, first, to familiarize yourself with the history of mushrooms in the region and to support locally-run organizations such as Esperenza Mazateca. You can also help preserve the biocultural diversity of ancestral plant medicines by engaging with Grow Medicine. If you’re looking for a trusted psilocybin retreat in Mexico, we recommend Buena Vida. Reporter Robyn Huang traveled to Huautla for DoubleBlind and interviewed Mazatec curanderas in the region about their efforts to preserve their traditional healing ways with psilocybin mushrooms.

Canada 

Psilocybin and MDMA have since 2021 been accessible to a small number of patients through a compassionate clinical access scheme—a version of which is being blocked in the US by the DEA. In October 2022, the Canadian province of Alberta—population 4.3 million—became the first in the country to regulate psychedelic-assisted therapy under tightly controlled conditions. Meanwhile, dispensaries have been popping up in Ontario and British Columbia (BC)—geared toward a recreational market, and appear to be operating largely unhindered despite a handful of well-publicized raids. All drug use was decriminalized in BC in 2023.

Meanwhile, dispensaries have been popping up in Ontario and British Columbia—geared toward a recreational market, and appear to be operating unhindered. “We have enough research. If we fought this in court, we would win,” a Toronto based-lawyer supporting one business told VICE. “We could clearly establish that it’s safe and that it is effective.”

The Netherlands 

The Netherlands has long tolerated the legal recreational sale of magic truffles—clusters of hardened mycelium that grow beneath some species of magic mushrooms. However, it prohibited the sale and cultivation of shrooms in 2008, which were previously legally available from “smart shops.” The country outlawed them as it sought to clamp down on “unpredictable and therefore risky behavior” which can arise from psilocybin use in certain settings. Medical access to psilocybin therapy remains controversial. One company recently faced issues when they hired a psychotherapist and were perceived to be developing a medical model. Magic mushroom retreats are, however, common and openly advertised.

Read: The Tragic Story Of Magic Truffles: The Elusive Wild Psilocybe

Thailand 

Just a decade ago, people could receive the death sentence for cannabis in Thailand. Now, officials in the Southeast Asian country are exploring psilocybin reform after the creation of government schemes for cannabis industries. Despite Thailand’s historically strict drug laws,  since the 1980s, all manner of magic mushroom-laced foods and drinks are available in certain eateries on the mainland and some islands—even while it remains illegal. It is similar in Laos, Cambodia, and Burma. However, magic mushroom use is still punishable by a year in jail, and sellers risk 15 years imprisonment. There have been rumors of tourists tripping on shrooms being apprehended by police.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

In October 2020, the Caribbean Island chain legalized the production and transport of all psychedelics, as well as treatment and research, though not use. The Medicinal Wellness Feasibility Study is expected to go on for up to 30 months and will include “cultivation, research, processing, and prescription of psychedelic plant-based compounds including psilocybin, ibogaine, peyote, ketamine, dimethyltryptamine, ayahuasca, and sassafras.” In 2022, the country permitted Med Plant Science Ltd—a psychedelic biotechnology company—to produce psychedelic compounds on the island. LA Weekly reports that the island chain hopes to position itself as “one of the most progressive countries on the planet for psychedelic research.”

Jamaica

Jamaica is moving toward becoming the first country to completely legalize magic mushrooms. In November 2023, it announced the establishment of the Jamaican psilocybin industry working group, chaired by consultant psychiatrist senator Dr. Saphire Longmore. The island, better known for ganja, is already home to many psilocybin retreat centers, and psychedelic mushroom products are increasingly available in cannabis dispensaries and hotels. In Jamaica, psilocybin was never referenced in anti-drug laws. However, ministers have sought to style the country as a psychedelic wellness destination.

Bahamas

Across the island chain, psilocybin mushrooms are not identified by the government as a “dangerous drug,” like in Jamaica. Therefore, their cultivation, possession, and distribution are not prohibited, even while they are not explicitly permitted. The country is a signatory of the 1971 UN drugs convention, meaning that sales may not be wholly legal. But mushroom ceremonies can still reportedly be found at certain resorts.

Brazil

Psilocybin is illegal according to Brazilian legislation, but there have been no historic reported arrests–with only the molecule itself technically prohibited, not the fruiting bodies which contain it. Mushrooms are sold through informal markets. In 2006, drug use was effectively decriminalized.

British Virgin Islands (BVI)

The British Overseas Territory’s courts and legislature are independent of the UK, where psilocybin remains illegal–with police enforcement even sometimes at lower levels. In BVI, the sale of magic mushrooms is illegal but some businesses are allegedly openly selling them, and they are legal to possess and use. 

Austria

In 2016, Austria decriminalized possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms. Cultivation is legal, but harvesting remains illegal, along with sale and distribution.

Czechia

In 2009, the country long known for its progressive drug policies decriminalized personal use amounts of psilocybin mushrooms. People may have up to “40 pieces” in their individual possession, though they still face the possibility of a misdemeanor for doing so.

Portugal

In 2001, Portugal became the first country to decriminalize possession of personal use quantities of all drugs. However, people could be recommended drug treatment and support services if found in possession, and following an assessment.

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