Okay, let’s have it out right now. This is a fact: Psilocybin-containing mushrooms are 100% illegal in all 50 states. There are no gray areas. They are 100% illegal. Period. 

I don’t mean to burst anyone’s bubble or be a Debbie downer, but this is the truth and, unfortunately, no one is stating this.

Here are some facts:

Fifteen cities in the United States have decriminalized mushrooms, so far, and as of this publishing. Decriminalization is very different from legalization. Oregon, for example, has legalized the therapeutic model, but it hasn’t been implemented yet because they are still hashing out the details. And there are no plans at all, in any of the legislation currently on the table, in any of the states that has any kind of retail sales model attached to it. And I’ve seen it all. There’s nothing there. No one will be legally selling psilocybin, online or in stores, to the likes of you and me anytime soon. 

So every single microdose “company” that you see out there is selling federally illegal substances: Every single one of them is doing everything they can to invite the Feds to knock on their door and deliver them a trafficking charge. 

“Who pissed in your Cheerios, Del? It’s just a little psilocybin.” I get it. It sounds like I’m being a little uptight. Well, this is a cause for me, not an industry or a get-rich-quick scheme, and I’ve seen this show before. I worked for a reputable CBD brand. While there, I saw an extraordinary number of questionable products come to market containing what they called “CBD.” At the same time, I saw vulnerable families use these garbage CBD products, trying to do whatever they can to save their child from epilepsy. Shocker, now they don’t think that CBD works. 

That’s why I’m pissed. Imagine not knowing about a hopeful new treatment for your kid. Or worse, thinking that the hopeful new treatment is bogus, when the sham CBD you bought actually induces seizures because the manufacturer doesn’t care about their source, or cuts corners to save a buck. That family tells another family, who tells another family. Trust me, these circles are small. More and more children are denied the opportunity for healing every day.

This is what we are up against with psilocybin, an even more volatile substance with even less popular understanding. We are staring into a potentially catastrophic abyss by allowing illegal products to take over the market and poison the national dialogue about psilocybin. There are throngs of people waiting in the wings to scream about the dangers of psychedelics, to paint the worst picture possible, and to tug on the ear of any ultra-conservative politician who wants to be a hero. We cannot give them any opportunity to do so. 

This is not a game to me. I’ve lived a privileged life and have personally found great healing with psychedelics. What about the millions who have yet to discover these modalities? We need to be extremely responsible with the emergence of psilocybin. Right now in the US, we do not need publicly-traded companies. We don’t need retreat centers. And we surely don’t need illegal microdosing companies jockeying for position in some imagined public psilocybin market — that sort of market won’t be here any time soon. 

Right now, we need to establish basic human rights, by decriminalizing psilocybin and other naturally-occurring psychedelic substances. We need those who are acting as if this cause matters to them to start or join their local Decrim Nature chapter and fight for the decriminalization of these substances. 

Because at the end of the day, that really expensive microdose chocolate you bought on Instagram? It could land you in jail, with plenty of time wondering why in the hell you’re hemmed up because of nature. 

— Del