Legal status of psychedelics, country by country

How to use this guide

Drug laws change often, and police, prosecutors and courts apply them in different ways. This guide is information, not legal advice. Each entry names its source and the date that source confirmed the position, and the whole guide was checked on 1 October 2026. Before booking or travelling, confirm the current rules with the authority in that country or with a local lawyer.

Two points apply everywhere. The 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances puts DMT, an active compound in ayahuasca, in Schedule I, its strictest list (ICEERS, 2019), along with most other psychedelics (EUDA, July 2024). The treaty names compounds, not the plants and fungi that contain them, and the International Narcotics Control Board has said that controlling a compound does not automatically control the organism. Each country makes that choice (ICEERS, September 2025), which is why a mushroom, a truffle and a brew can each have a different status. Ketamine is not scheduled under the UN conventions at all (EUDA, July 2024).

North America

United States. Federal law lists psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, MDMA and ibogaine in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, and the federal code still showed all five there on 29 September 2026, with ketamine in Schedule III. Some churches are permitted to use ayahuasca in their ceremonies (ICEERS, 2019). The FDA declined to approve an MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD in August 2024. An executive order of 18 April 2026 tells federal agencies to speed up review of psychedelic drugs, build a Right to Try route and review the scheduling of products that complete phase 3 trials; it approves no drug by itself. Six days later the FDA issued three national priority vouchers, which aim at a review of one to two months. Two went to psilocybin programmes: Compass Pathways’ COMP360 for treatment-resistant depression and Usona Institute’s psilocybin for major depressive disorder (Foley & Lardner, April 2026).

State programmes sit beside federal law without changing it. Oregon voters approved Measure 109 in November 2020, making Oregon the first state with regulated psilocybin services (UC Berkeley law map, July 2026). Adults 21 and older can take psilocybin at a licensed service centre with a licensed facilitator, for any reason and without a diagnosis (Spohn, 2025). HB 4040, enacted in April 2026, aims to widen who may provide services, including facilitators from other states. Colorado voters passed Proposition 122 in November 2022, which decriminalised certain psychedelic plants and fungi and set up licensed healing centres; HB 1325, passed in May 2026, adds an ibogaine research pilot at up to five sites (UC Berkeley law map). New Mexico signed its Medical Psilocybin Act in April 2025 and must start a state programme by 31 December 2027 (UC Berkeley law map), for qualifying conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, substance use disorders and distress at the end of life (Drug Science, June 2026). Texas created a grant programme in June 2025 with up to US$50 million in state matching funds for FDA trials of ibogaine (UC Berkeley law map).

Canada. At federal level, psilocybin is available only through exceptional, case-by-case routes such as special access programmes and terminal-illness provisions, not routine prescribing. Alberta runs its own regulated framework for psilocybin therapy (Drug Science, June 2026). Some churches may use ayahuasca in religious practice (ICEERS, 2019).

Latin America and the Caribbean

Mexico. The General Health Law bans psilocybin mushrooms outright, from cultivation and possession to use (ICEERS, September 2025). Exceptions for ritual use of mushrooms and peyote are vague, and members of Indigenous peoples have still been prosecuted. A Supreme Court challenge to the ban was left undecided when the court’s membership changed in 2025. The law does not address ayahuasca directly, so its status is uncertain (ICEERS, 2019). Ibogaine is different: a 2024 Nature Medicine paper describes Mexico as a country where its use is not restricted, and the 30 US veterans in that open-label study were treated at a Mexican clinic.

Costa Rica. This guide found no official or peer-reviewed source on how Costa Rican law treats psilocybin, ayahuasca or ibogaine retreats, so the status is unclear. Ask a provider which permit covers its service.

Peru. Peru treats the traditional use of ayahuasca as national cultural heritage, and it made a reservation for these traditional uses when it signed the 1971 Convention (ICEERS, 2019).

Brazil. Brazil permits and regulates religious use of ayahuasca by churches (ICEERS, 2019). This guide found no reliable source on psilocybin or ibogaine in Brazil.

Jamaica. Jamaica’s Dangerous Drugs Act has never listed psilocybin, and its food and drugs law does not cover it either, so psilocybin mushrooms are legal and unregulated; no other classic psychedelic is legal there. In 2022 a government investment agency promoted psilocybin treatment and research. In August 2024 the Ministry of Health and Wellness said it had approved no psilocybin product and warned that the drug can harm health (Spohn, 2025).

Europe

All EU member states have signed the UN conventions, which put most psychedelics in the strictest schedule and require national penalties (EUDA, July 2024). The main differences lie in how countries treat personal use.

Netherlands. Mushrooms containing psilocybin have been banned since December 2008. Truffles do not count as mushrooms, so they fall outside the Opium Act and are sold openly in smartshops (Trimbos Institute, March 2026). The EUDA noted reports in 2024 of retreats working legally in the Netherlands, whereas in other EU countries they mostly seem to be unlicensed or illegal.

Portugal. Under Law 30/2000, a person caught with up to ten days’ average supply for their own use commits an administrative offence, not a crime, and faces a fine or other sanctions but no prison. Above that amount, a court closes the case or acquits and refers someone who holds drugs for their own use to a drug dissuasion commission, while supply remains a crime with prison terms (EUDA, September 2024). The law does not address ayahuasca directly, so its status is uncertain (ICEERS, 2019).

Spain. Using or carrying drugs for personal use in public places is a serious administrative offence, fined from €601 to €30,000, rather than a crime. More than three to five days of usual consumption can be prosecuted as a crime, and so can supply (EUDA, September 2024). Spanish law does not mention ayahuasca, and Spain has recorded more legal incidents involving it in recent years than any other country (ICEERS, 2019).

Germany. Possessing controlled drugs can bring up to five years in prison or a fine, though prosecutors or courts may drop cases involving small amounts for personal use, and using drugs other than cannabis is not in itself an offence (EUDA, September 2024). In 2025 the medicines regulator, BfArM, authorised a compassionate use programme for psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression, a case-by-case route in specialised clinics that is not a marketing approval (Drug Science, June 2026).

United Kingdom. Magic mushrooms and MDMA are Class A: possession can mean up to seven years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both, and supply up to life. Ketamine is Class B, with up to five years for possession. Carrying a psychoactive substance that is not a controlled drug carries no penalty outside prison, but supplying one can bring up to seven years (GOV.UK, October 2023).

Czech Republic. A law in force since 1 January 2026 lets specialists in psychiatry or psychotherapy prescribe and give individually prepared psilocybin for defined psychiatric conditions. It is put into practice through a government regulation that sets the indications, dose limits and supervision after each session (Drug Science, June 2026). Outside medicine, the EUDA’s 2024 summary treats possession of a small amount for personal use as a misdemeanour, with a fine of up to CZK 15,000, and larger amounts as a crime. The 2026 reform also amended drug-control laws, so check the current thresholds.

Asia-Pacific

Australia. In February 2023 the Therapeutic Goods Administration said that from 1 July 2023 psychiatrists could prescribe psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and MDMA for PTSD (EUDA, July 2024). They do so under the Authorised Prescriber scheme, and a June 2026 review still lists Australia among countries with a structured federal framework (Drug Science).

New Zealand. Psilocybin is a Class A drug, but the Director-General of Health can approve its medical use. The first approval went to a psychiatrist on 19 June 2025, and the medicines regulator, Medsafe, published guidance for applicants on 24 July 2025. Access is case by case and outside clinical trials (Drug Science, June 2026).

Before booking

• Ask for the legal basis. A provider should name the licence, permit or exemption that covers its service. Check it with that regulator.
• Ibogaine needs heart screening. It can lengthen the QT interval, and some cases have ended in fatal arrhythmias; high doses, existing conditions, interactions with other drugs and absent monitoring may have contributed (Cherian and colleagues, 2024). Ask whether the clinic checks the heart with an ECG beforehand and monitors it continuously during treatment, and give it a full list of current medicines.
• Ketamine harms depend on dose. Intensive use has been linked to bladder damage, and ketamine also carries risks to the heart, the nervous system and mental health (EUDA, July 2024).
• Unlicensed settings add risk. People in an altered state are more suggestible and easier to exploit, and the EUDA notes these risks may be greater where no trained, regulated clinicians are present.