Updated October 2026 | The Bulldog Law | California Drug Crimes Defense
No. Psilocybin mushrooms are illegal in California. Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I controlled substances under Health and Safety Code 11054 and under federal law, and the mushrooms that contain them are treated as the drug. Possessing them for personal use is a misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code 11377, with up to a year in county jail and, for a first offense, eligibility for diversion that ends in dismissal. Growing them is a wobbler under Health and Safety Code 11390. Selling, furnishing, or transporting them for sale is a felony with up to four years. The Legislature passed a bill in 2023 to decriminalize possession and the Governor vetoed it; a 2024 bill to create a supervised therapeutic program died in committee. Six California cities have told their police to make psilocybin enforcement a low priority, which binds only those departments and changes nothing about the law. The one real gap is spores, which contain no psilocybin and are lawful to possess until they are grown.
The Bulldog Law's attorneys see psilocybin cases that arrive with a belief that the law had changed: a client cited in a car with a bag of dried mushrooms who had read about Oakland, a home grower whose kit was found during a search for something else, a seller on a messaging app who thought the therapeutic conversation meant the drug was tolerated, and a festival-goer charged with furnishing after sharing with friends. The law has not changed, the enforcement has in some places, and the difference between the two is what the case turns on. What follows is the statutory framework, the decriminalization history and its limits, the cultivation and sales rules, the spore question, the related psychedelics, and how the cases are defended. Call (888) 928-1609 or message our team.
The statutes
Scheduling. Health and Safety Code 11054(d) lists psilocybin and psilocyn among the hallucinogenic substances in Schedule I, the category for drugs the Legislature has designated as having no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse, alongside LSD, mescaline, peyote, DMT, and MDMA. Federal law schedules them identically under 21 U.S.C. 812. A mushroom that contains psilocybin is a material containing a controlled substance, and the weight of the mushroom, not the weight of the compound, is the quantity.
Possession. Health and Safety Code 11377 makes possession of a Schedule I hallucinogen a misdemeanor since Proposition 47, punishable by up to a year in county jail, unless the defendant has a prior conviction for a serious or violent felony or a registrable sex offense, in which case it is a wobbler. The elements are possession, knowledge of the presence of the substance and of its nature as a controlled substance, and a usable amount. The same statute covers Adderall and other prescription stimulants, and the structure parallels possession of opiates and cocaine under 11350. Being under the influence of psilocybin is a separate misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code 11550.
Cultivation. Health and Safety Code 11390 makes it a crime to cultivate, produce, process, or prepare any spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which contains psilocybin or psilocyn, with the intent to produce the controlled substance. It is a wobbler: up to a year in county jail as a misdemeanor, or 16 months, two, or three years as a felony. Health and Safety Code 11391 makes it a crime to transport, sell, or furnish spores or mycelium with the intent that they be used to grow psilocybin. The cultivation statute is the one that reaches the grow kit, and the intent element is where it is contested.
Sales. Possession for sale under Health and Safety Code 11378 is a felony with 16 months, two, or three years; selling, furnishing, giving away, or transporting for sale under 11379 is a felony with two, three, or four years, and three, six, or nine when transported across county lines for sale. Furnishing includes giving mushrooms to a friend. Intent to sell is proven by quantity, packaging, scales, cash, and messages, and a person who grew a flush and distributed it to friends is charged with cultivation and furnishing.
What decriminalization did and did not do
The Legislature. Senate Bill 58, which would have removed criminal penalties for adults possessing and personally using psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, and mescaline, passed both houses in 2023 and was vetoed by the Governor in October 2023, with a message asking for a framework with treatment guidelines first. Senate Bill 1012 in 2024, which would have created a regulated program for supervised adult use at licensed facilities, failed in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Further bills have been introduced, and none has become law. The statutes above remain in force statewide.
The cities. Oakland in 2019, Santa Cruz in 2020, Arcata in 2021, San Francisco in 2022, Berkeley in 2023, and Eureka have adopted resolutions declaring that the investigation and arrest of adults for planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, engaging in practices with, or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi shall be among the lowest law enforcement priorities for the city. The resolutions are directions to the city police department. They do not amend state law, do not bind the county sheriff, the Highway Patrol, state agencies, or federal officers, and do not bind the district attorney, who prosecutes state crimes regardless of the city's priorities. Most exclude sales and commercial activity. A person cited by a sheriff's deputy in unincorporated Alameda County, or stopped by the CHP on a freeway through Oakland, is outside the resolution entirely, and a person cited by Oakland police can still be charged by the district attorney. In practice, the resolutions have reduced arrests for personal possession in those cities and have had no effect on sales, cultivation, or driving cases.
The contrast with other states. Oregon created a licensed psilocybin services program in 2020 and Colorado decriminalized personal use and created a regulated program in 2022. California has done neither, and a product lawfully purchased at an Oregon service center is contraband the moment it crosses into California. Federal law prohibits psilocybin everywhere, and as our page on what makes a crime federal explains, large-scale cultivation and interstate distribution are prosecuted by the United States.
Spores, kits, and the cultivation cases
Psilocybin mushroom spores do not contain psilocybin, and under California law possessing spores is not a crime; they are sold online and in stores for microscopy. The crime under 11390 is cultivating them with the intent to produce psilocybin, and under 11391 selling them with the intent that the buyer will. A spore syringe in a drawer is lawful. A spore syringe next to a grow kit, a substrate, a humidity tent, and a colonized jar is evidence of cultivation, and a fruiting mushroom is the controlled substance itself. The cultivation cases are built on what was found in the home, and the defenses are the intent element, the stage of the grow, and the search, since home grows are discovered during searches for other things, by landlords, or on the strength of a purchase record from an online retailer. Our pages on the motion to suppress and on curtilage and home searches cover the search issues that decide many of these cases.
The related psychedelics
LSD, MDMA, DMT, mescaline, and the other Schedule I hallucinogens are governed by the same statutes: possession under 11377 as a misdemeanor, sales under 11378 and 11379 as felonies. LSD is a frequent subject of the is-it-illegal question and the answer is the same as for psilocybin, with the complication that LSD is measured by dose rather than weight and that blotter paper carrying it is treated as the drug. MDMA has drawn federal attention as a therapeutic candidate, and the FDA declined to approve it in 2024; it remains Schedule I. Ketamine is different: it is a Schedule III drug with lawful medical uses, lawfully administered by licensed providers including at ketamine clinics, and illegal to possess without a prescription under Health and Safety Code 11377 as well. Peyote is Schedule I with a narrow exemption for Native American religious use under federal law. Cannabis, which is lawful for adults under Proposition 64 within limits, is the exception, as our page on recreational marijuana explains, and the one that leads people to assume mushrooms followed.
Defenses and resolutions
Knowledge. The prosecution must prove the defendant knew the mushrooms were a controlled substance. Foraged mushrooms, mushrooms received as a gift, and mushrooms in a shared space with no evidence of the defendant's knowledge raise the issue, and the lab analysis must establish that the material actually contained psilocybin, since many wild and sold mushrooms do not.
Possession. Constructive possession in a car, a home, or a festival camp is contested on control and knowledge, and a bag found in a shared vehicle is not attributed to every occupant.
The search. A stop extended for a search, a consent that was not voluntary, a home entered on a pretext, or a package opened without a warrant produces a suppression motion, and in a case where the mushrooms are the evidence, suppression ends it.
Intent to sell and intent to cultivate. Quantity alone does not prove intent to sell, and a person who bought in bulk for personal use is a possessor. A kit that was never started, or spores never grown, does not establish the intent to produce that 11390 requires.
Resolution. A first possession case under 11377 is eligible for pretrial diversion under Penal Code 1000, which ends in dismissal with no plea, and that is the ordinary outcome for personal-use cases. Cultivation and sales cases are negotiated on the quantity and the role, and a small grow for personal use is frequently reduced to possession with diversion. A conviction, where one occurs, is eligible for expungement after probation. For non-citizens, any psilocybin conviction is a controlled substance offense with immigration consequences, with no exception comparable to the one for small amounts of marijuana, so diversion or a non-drug plea is the only safe path. Driving on psilocybin is a drug DUI, proven by observation and a blood test rather than a number, and a person who calls for help for a friend in a bad experience is protected by the Good Samaritan law for the possession that the call would otherwise reveal.
Frequently asked questions
Are mushrooms legal in California?
No. Psilocybin and psilocyn, the active compounds in magic mushrooms, are Schedule I controlled substances under California's Health and Safety Code 11054 and federal law. Possessing them is a misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code 11377, and cultivating them is a wobbler under Health and Safety Code 11390. The Legislature passed a decriminalization bill in 2023 that the Governor vetoed, and a 2024 bill to create a regulated therapeutic program also failed. A few cities have made enforcement a low priority, which is not the same as legal.
Is it a felony to have mushrooms in California?
Simple possession for personal use is a misdemeanor since Proposition 47, with up to a year in county jail for most people and eligibility for drug diversion. Possession for sale under Health and Safety Code 11378 is a felony with up to three years. Cultivating psilocybin mushrooms under 11390 is a wobbler, chargeable either way. Possession of the spores alone, which do not contain psilocybin, is not a crime under California law, which is why spore kits are sold openly.
Which cities in California have decriminalized mushrooms?
Oakland, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Berkeley, Arcata, and Eureka have adopted resolutions making the investigation and arrest of adults for using or possessing entheogenic plants and fungi among the lowest law enforcement priorities. Those resolutions bind only city police departments; they do not change state law, do not bind county sheriffs, the CHP, or the district attorney, and do not apply to sales. A person cited in Oakland can still be prosecuted by the Alameda County District Attorney.
What is the penalty for selling mushrooms in California?
Selling, furnishing, or transporting psilocybin for sale is a felony under Health and Safety Code 11379 with two, three, or four years in custody, and possession with intent to sell under 11378 carries 16 months, two, or three years. Giving mushrooms to a friend is furnishing. Quantity, packaging, scales, and messages are the evidence of intent to sell, and a person who grew mushrooms and shared them is charged with cultivation and furnishing together.
Can you be charged with DUI for mushrooms?
Yes. California's Vehicle Code 23152(f) prohibits driving under the influence of any drug, and psilocybin impairment supports a DUI the same as any other drug. The prosecution relies on the officer's observations, a drug recognition evaluation, and a blood test; because psilocybin is not on standard panels and its metabolites clear quickly, the proof is often weak, but the charge is brought.
Related reading from our attorneys
- Drug possession under Health and Safety Code 11350
- Adderall and prescription drugs without a prescription
- Judicial and drug diversion in California
Charged with mushrooms? The law did not change, but the resolutions available did
The Bulldog Law's drug crimes defense attorneys handle psilocybin possession, cultivation, and sales cases across California, from the diversion that ends a first offense to the suppression motions that end a cultivation case, with the immigration analysis handled in-house. Visit our criminal defense page, call (888) 928-1609, or reach us online.