Are Psilocybin Mushrooms Legal in California?

At-a-Glance Status

• Statewide status: Psilocybin and psilocin remain controlled substances in California.
• Personal possession: Generally prohibited under California Health and Safety Code § 11377.
• Home cultivation: Prohibited under current state law.
• Local cities: Six cities have adopted enforcement-deprioritization resolutions, but they have not legalized psilocybin.
• Retail sales: California has no regulated retail market for psilocybin mushrooms.
• Religious use: Protection may exist in a specific case – like membership in The Church of Psychedelics – but it is not automatic and membership does not create blanket immunity.

What California Law Actually Says

California lists psilocybin and psilocin as Schedule I controlled substances in Health and Safety Code § 11054(d)(18) and (19). The law does not create a general exception for personal or spiritual use, and California does not currently operate a state-regulated psilocybin access program.

Simple possession is generally prosecuted under Health and Safety Code § 11377 and may be punished by up to one year in county jail. The exact charge and consequences depend on the conduct, quantity, prior record, and other facts. Selling, transporting for sale, furnishing, administering, or giving away a controlled substance can involve separate and more serious laws, including § 11379.

In plain language: a small amount is not made legal simply because it is intended for personal use, spiritual use, or sharing with another person.

What Is Restricted Under State Law

• Possessing psilocybin mushrooms.
• Cultivating mushrooms with the intent to produce psilocybin or psilocin.
• Selling, transporting for sale, furnishing, administering, or giving away psilocybin.
• Operating an unlicensed commercial psilocybin service or retail business.
• Moving psilocybin across state lines, which also raises federal-law concerns.

A city resolution can lower local enforcement priority, but it does not erase these state or federal restrictions.

The California Cities That Lowered Enforcement

California's local psychedelic-reform movement began in Oakland. Six cities have since adopted resolutions directing local law enforcement to make certain adult activities involving natural entheogens a low priority:

• Oakland — 2019
• Santa Cruz — 2020
• Arcata — 2021
• San Francisco — 2022
• Berkeley — 2023
• Eureka — 2023

These actions are often called decriminalization, but enforcement deprioritization is the more accurate description. The resolutions generally tell city police how to use local resources. They do not legalize possession, create a retail market, bind state or federal agencies, or guarantee that a person will not be arrested or prosecuted.

The exact language and scope differ by city. Readers should check the current local resolution and speak with a California attorney before relying on a city policy.

Are Mushrooms Legal in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, or Oakland?

• Los Angeles: No. Los Angeles has not adopted a citywide psilocybin legalization law or a regulated access program.
• San Diego: No. California's statewide prohibition applies.
• San Francisco: Not legally. The city has deprioritized certain enforcement, but state and federal law still apply.
• Oakland: Not legally. Oakland's resolution lowers local enforcement priority for certain natural entheogen activity; it does not create legal possession or sale.

The #Decrim Movement

The #decrim movement, which started in California, is how ordinary people are working to change laws governing natural psychedelics, city by city and state by state — through education, local organizing, public meetings, and legislation. The #decrim movement includes the work to legalize psilocybin. Decriminalization is not legalization; every proposal has its own scope and limits.

Follow #decrim and #DecriminalizeNature to find campaigns, proposed legislation, public meetings, and organizations near you. Read the proposal, learn what it would — and would not — change, and show up where the work is happening. Social media can lead you to the movement, but always verify current law through official government sources.

The Spore Rule: What the Statute Actually Says

California's mushroom-spore law is stricter than the law in many states, but it is also more specific than the current page suggests.

Health and Safety Code § 11390 prohibits cultivating spores or mycelium with the intent to produce material containing psilocybin or psilocin. Section 11391 prohibits transporting for sale, importing, selling, furnishing, or giving away qualifying spores or mycelium for the purpose of facilitating that cultivation. Section 11392 provides a limited path for approved research.

That means the legal question involves both the conduct and the person's intent. The page should not make the categorical claim that mere possession of spores is always prohibited. Many vendors still decline to ship spores to California because of the state's restrictions and the legal risk.

California Psilocybin Law in 2026: What Changed—and What Did Not

California has repeatedly considered broader psychedelic reform, but it has not yet created legal personal access to psilocybin.

• SB 58 passed the Legislature in 2023 and would have decriminalized limited adult possession of several plant- and fungi-based psychedelics. However, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill, favoring a fee-based regulated therapeutic framework over immediate decriminalization.
• SB 1012 proposed a supervised therapeutic-access framework in 2024 but did not advance out of the Legislature.
• AB 1103 became law in 2025. It updates and can expedite California's review of certain federally authorized Schedule I and II research. It expands research infrastructure; it does not legalize personal possession or create public access.
• SB 1224 is a 2026 research-focused proposal concerning emerging therapies. As of this review, it does not legalize personal possession or establish a public psilocybin program.

The direction is important, but the distinction is simple: California is making more room for research, but it has not legalized personal psilocybin use.

Looking beyond California?

Religious Use: What the Law Does — and Does Not — Protect

Religious freedom is real, and so are its legal limits.

The federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA) requires the federal government to meet a demanding legal standard when it substantially burdens sincere religious exercise. In Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006), the United States Supreme Court affirmed a preliminary injunction protecting a church's sacramental use of hoasca — an ayahuasca tea containing DMT — because the government had not met its burden under RFRA.

But RFRA is not a membership card that automatically makes a controlled substance legal. Protection depends on the facts: the sincerity of the beliefs, the religious exercise involved, the burden imposed by the government, and whether the government can satisfy strict scrutiny.

DEA guidance is also explicit: a petitioner may not engage in activity prohibited by the federal Controlled Substances Act unless the petition has been granted and the organization has received the required DEA registration. The same guidance says that a federal religious exemption does not, by itself, authorize conduct prohibited by state law.

For a California reader, the honest answer is this: sincere religious exercise raises important constitutional and federal claims, but protection is not automatic, membership alone does not create immunity, and California law remains a separate question.

How TCOP Supports Members in California

The Church of Psychedelics can support a person's spiritual development without pretending that membership changes California law.

TCOP members can participate in Ayüna (the religion), The Golden Path (the spiritual belief system), and teachings, prayer, preparation, integration, services, and community gatherings. These practices help people expand their self-awareness, deepen their relationship with Source Consciousness, and bring greater intention and responsibility into everyday life.

The sacrament of psilocybin is part of that religious life, but it is not the whole religion. Preparation helps a person understand why they are developing a relationship with the medicine. Integration helps them carry what they learn into their relationships, choices, healing, and spiritual development.

We will not tell a California member that joining the Church automatically makes possession or use legal. Trust begins with telling the truth about both the spiritual path and the law.

Store-Shelf "Mushroom" Products: Read the Label, Then Question It

California does not have a legal retail market for psilocybin gummies or chocolate. A package labeled "mushroom," "microdose," or "psychedelic" is not proof that it contains psilocybin — or that the label accurately describes what is inside.

Some products contain Amanita compounds such as muscimol. Others may contain synthetic or undisclosed substances. In the nationwide Diamond Shruumz investigation, CDC reported 180 illnesses, 73 hospitalizations, and two associated deaths. Testing found several substances across different products, including psilocin, O-acetylpsilocin, muscimol, kavalactones, and the prescription drug pregabalin.

The practical lesson is simple: a product being sold openly does not make it regulated, accurately labeled, or safe.

The Bottom Line

California's culture is moving faster than its statutes. But a changed conversation is not the same as a changed law.

Psilocybin remains illegal statewide. Six cities have lowered certain local enforcement priorities, research laws are evolving, and religious liberty has shown to matter in an individualized case.

The medicine deserves reverence. The law deserves precision. The Church of Psychedelics honors both by giving members clear information, being honest about what is still uncertain, and treating sacramental use as part of a sincere personal spiritual development practice — the kind of religious exercise RFRA was written to protect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

Every legal claim on this page should trace to a primary source. Confirm each is current before relying on it.

1. California Health and Safety Code § 11054 — psilocybin and psilocin scheduling · California Legislative Information
2. § 11377 — simple possession · California Legislative Information
3. § 11379 — transport, sale, furnishing, administration, giving away · California Legislative Information
4. §§ 11390–11392 — spores and mycelium · California Legislative Information
5. Oakland Resolution 18-1790 · City of Oakland
6. Santa Cruz entheogenic plants and fungi resolution · City of Santa Cruz
7. San Francisco Board of Supervisors File 220896 · City and County of San Francisco
8. Arcata Resolution 212-17 · City of Arcata
9. Berkeley entheogenic plants and fungi resolution · City of Berkeley
10. AB 1103 — controlled-substance research · California Legislative Information
11. SB 1224 — CA Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act · California Legislative Information
12. DEA Guidance — Petitions for Religious Exemption from the CSA · U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
13. U.S. DOJ principles of religious liberty · U.S. Department of Justice
14. CDC investigation of Diamond Shruumz mushroom edibles · Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
15. FDA Diamond Shruumz recall and investigation · U.S. Food and Drug Administration
16. Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006) · Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School