In many state, and provincial drug laws, there is a lot of confusion about the legal status of psilocybin mushrooms, as well as a strong element of selective enforcement in some places, as psilocybin and psilocin are considered illegal without a license to possess substances, but the mushrooms themselves are not mentioned in these laws. The legal status of psilocybe spores is even more ambiguous because the spores do not contain psilocybin or psilocin and are therefore not sold or possessed illegally in many jurisdictions, although many jurisdictions are prosecuted under broader laws prohibiting items used in the manufacture of drugs. Some jurisdictions (such as the US states of California, Georgia and Idaho) have specifically banned the sale and possession of psilocybin fungal spores. Growing psilocybin mushrooms is considered a manufacture of medicines in most countries and is often severely punished, although some countries and one US state (New Mexico) have decided that growing psilocybin mushrooms is not considered a controlled substance. On November 3, 2020, Oregon voters passed a voting initiative that legalized “magic mushrooms” for mental health treatment in supervised facilities beginning February 1, 2021. [7] [8] [9] A bill is currently pending before the California legislature that would legalize the “possession, acquisition, transfer or transport of certain quantities of psilocybin, psilocyne, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).” The bill was approved by the California Senate with 21 votes in favor. The bill is currently on the committee of the California State Assembly. [10] Not everyone is ready to give mushrooms the green light. In written testimony in February before the Maine Joint Legislative Committee, which oversaw health and social services and was considering a measure to legalize psilocybin, Dr.
Nirav Shah, director of the state`s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that there are not yet enough recognized medical standards to ensure psilocybin`s safe use. All drugs are decriminalized for personal use, including psychedelic mushrooms. An October 2019 online poll by research firm Green Horizons found that 38 percent of U.S. adults supported the legalization of psilocybin “at least under certain circumstances.” [68] The legality of psilocybin in New Mexico is slightly different from the rest of the country. While it`s illegal, growing or possessing psilocybin mushrooms for personal use isn`t considered a criminal offense — meaning you probably won`t be able to handle more than a fine. Like marijuana, psilocybin is illegal in South Dakota. This is because it is a Schedule I substance. This means that its use, sale or possession will have serious consequences, such as jail time or costly fines.
Yes, several communities in California have decided to decriminalize natural psychedelics, including Santa Cruz and Oakland. Magic mushrooms remain highly illegal in the rest of the state. Magic mushrooms are currently legal in Brazil, Bulgaria, Jamaica, the Netherlands and Samoa. Many other countries have decriminalized the possession and cultivation of mushrooms, and some countries have considered mushrooms illegal only in dried form. However, this law does not carry as much weight as you might think, because each state has the option of replacing these laws with something else. If state regulators wish, they could legalize magic mushrooms for recreational, medical or both. On the other hand, magic mushroom spores (which are used for cultivation) are legal in most states because they do not contain any of these psychoactive chemicals. Magic mushrooms are illegal in Washington. However, we can see that this state is taking a more liberal stance on this issue.
In May 2018, President Donald Trump signed the Right to Try Act, with some doctors suggesting it allow terminally ill patients to use psychedelics for treatment. [8] [10] In October 2018, the Food and Drug Administration granted psilocybin “breakthrough therapy” status for research. [5] [11] The drug received this status again in November 2019. [12] Proponents of decriminalization cited research suggesting that the drug is non-addictive and causes a small number of emergency room visits compared to other illicit drugs. [4] Other research has highlighted the potentially beneficial use of psilocybin in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression and nicotine dependence. [4] Proponents also argued that decriminalization would increase law enforcement resources to focus on high-priority issues. [13] Magic mushrooms can cause altered or unusual perceptions of the user`s reality, causing users to see, hear, and feel sensations that appear real but are not. Magic mushrooms have long been associated with spiritual experiences and self-discovery; However, a “bad trip” can cause anxiety, paranoia, frightening hallucinations and psychosis.
In the Virgin Islands, psilocybin is an illegal substance. However, its penalties are not very different from the federal level, as the importance belongs to List I of controlled substances. In 2000, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution allowing medical marijuana under certain conditions. In 2012, Colorado voters passed Amendment 64, which legalized the distribution of recreational cannabis, and on the morning of January 1, 2014, the first legal sale of recreational marijuana in the United States took place in Colorado. Psilocybin mushrooms are not regulated by UN treaties. Aus einem Brief vom 13. September 2001 from Herbert Schaepe, Secretary of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board, to the Dutch Ministry of Health[6]: However, some Vermont legislators are expressing interest in legalizing medical use. But even states that could establish a regulatory system would not do so in a medical setting, a concern expressed by Shah of Maine. Maine`s law, which was not passed, provided for psilocybin centers which, as Shah testified, would “function more as recreational facilities than medical treatment facilities, limiting the department`s ability to regulate safe use and not incorporating sufficient behavioral and health contributions into the structure.” In Montana, mushrooms are considered a Schedule I substance – the most dangerous category. Depending on the amount you carry, you may end up paying hefty fines or even being jailed.
However, spores are completely legal (as long as you don`t grow them). With promising results for patients, lawmakers in other states and cities are also considering easing psilocybin restrictions. Some states want to legalize psilocybin treatment for all adult patients, while others want to limit it to veterans or others with PTSD. Other States have formed working groups to investigate the problem. On the other hand, the city of Chicago is focused on most of the movement to decriminalize magic mushrooms, leaving little hope that psilocybin will ever decriminalize the substance, at least in this city. Election initiatives that would legalize psilocybin are underway in Colorado and California. Last month, the president of the New Jersey Senate introduced a bill that would legalize psilocybin to treat certain disorders. Maine`s approach to regulating psilocybin is quieter than that of most states. However, it is important to know that the penalties for possession are very severe and you can spend a lot of time in jail or pay fines of thousands of dollars. That hallucinogenic trip, and how he then unpacked it, he said, “was one of the most important experiences of my life,” he said. Since then, he has traveled abroad four or five times for hallucinogenic trips, most recently with mushrooms.
If you`re arrested in Virginia for possession of hallucinogenic mushrooms, you`ll likely need a good attorney because drug offenses are serious in that state. Although psilocybin is an illegal substance in Wyoming, possession in small amounts is not a significant crime.