Are Psilocybin Mushrooms Legal in Virginia?

At-a-Glance Status

• Statewide status: Illegal (Schedule I) — Va. Code § 54.1-3446, subdivision 3 (hallucinogenic substances).
• Possession: Class 5 felony — § 18.2-250(A)(a): 1–10 years, or at the jury’s or court’s discretion up to 12 months in jail and/or a fine up to $2,500 (§ 18.2-10). First-offender deferral possible under § 18.2-251.
• Use: no separate offense — possession covers it.
• Growing / selling / giving away (cultivation = "manufacture"): § 18.2-248(C) — first offense 5–40 years and up to $500,000; a no-profit "accommodation" gift is a Class 5 felony (§ 18.2-248(D)); repeat offenses carry mandatory minimums up to life.
• Local enforcement: no verified local measure — no Virginia locality has created legal psilocybin access.
• Reform status: the 2026 "trigger" law (HB 1347 / SB 379) awaits FDA approval plus federal rescheduling; decriminalization (SB 262, 2022) and medical-regulation (SB 1135, 2025 — vetoed) bills failed. Nothing enacted legalizes or decriminalizes.
• Church support: Supported state — religious path via RFRA.

What Virginia Law Actually Says

Psilocybin and psilocyn are listed by name as Schedule I controlled substances in Virginia’s Drug Control Act (Va. Code § 54.1-3446, subdivision 3, hallucinogenic substances). Knowing or intentional possession of a Schedule I substance is a Class 5 felony (§ 18.2-250(A)(a)) — punishable by one to 10 years in prison, or, at the discretion of the jury or judge, up to 12 months in jail and/or a fine of up to $2,500 (§ 18.2-10).

A person with no prior drug conviction may be eligible for first-offender deferral under § 18.2-251: the court can withhold a finding of guilt, impose probation, treatment and at least 100 hours of community service, and dismiss the charge on completion — but that is discretionary, and the arrest still happens.

Manufacturing, selling, giving, or distributing a Schedule I substance — or possessing it with intent to do any of those — is punished far more severely under § 18.2-248(C): five to 40 years and a fine up to $500,000 for a first offense, with mandatory minimums and life-sentence exposure for second and subsequent offenses. Because the Drug Control Act defines "manufacture" to mean "production, preparation, propagation…" and "production" to include "planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting" (§ 54.1-3401), growing mushrooms is manufacturing and sits on the § 18.2-248 ladder, not the possession statute. Even giving mushrooms to a friend for free is charged under § 18.2-248 — the "accommodation" provision (§ 18.2-248(D)) reduces it to a Class 5 felony, not a misdemeanor. Psilocybin is also Schedule I under federal law.

What's Restricted

• Possessing psilocybin mushrooms — Class 5 felony (§ 18.2-250).
• Growing mushrooms — charged as manufacture (§§ 54.1-3401, 18.2-248), 5–40 years.
• Selling, sharing or distributing psilocybin — § 18.2-248; a free gift drops to a Class 5 felony under the accommodation provision.
• Possessing with intent to do any of the above — same § 18.2-248 ladder.

All of it is a felony under state law. The 2026 Board of Pharmacy law does not change any of this today.

Has Any Virginia City Lowered Enforcement?

No verified Virginia locality has created legal psilocybin access, and any local enforcement policy would not repeal statewide criminal law. We found no Virginia city or county that has passed a decriminalization ordinance or deprioritization resolution for psilocybin — not Richmond, Norfolk, Charlottesville, Arlington, or anywhere else.

Virginia is also one of the strictest Dillon Rule states in the country, which shapes what localities can enact. The Supreme Court of Virginia has held that localities "have only those powers that are expressly granted, those necessarily or fairly implied from expressly granted powers, and those that are essential and indispensable," and that "if there is a reasonable doubt whether legislative power exists, the doubt must be resolved against the local governing body" (Marble Technologies, Inc. v. City of Hampton, 2010). In practice, reform in Virginia has come from the General Assembly. Local prosecutors retain ordinary charging discretion, but no Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney has published a formal psilocybin non-prosecution policy that we could verify.

Are Mushrooms Legal in Richmond or Northern Virginia?

No. Psilocybin is illegal everywhere in Virginia under state law, and no locality has created legal access.

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

Virginia has no statute that specifically bans psilocybin mushroom spores (unlike Georgia, Idaho, or California). The Schedule I listing names psilocybin and psilocyn — the psychoactive compounds — which spores don’t contain, so spores sit in a legal gray zone.

But the gray zone is narrow. The moment spores are germinated into mycelium or fruiting bodies, that is "propagation" and "cultivation" — manufacture under §§ 54.1-3401 and 18.2-248, a 5-to-40-year felony. And Virginia’s drug-paraphernalia statute (§ 18.2-265.1) defines paraphernalia to include "kits intended for use or designed for use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, or harvesting" a controlled substance, so a spore syringe sold or possessed alongside a grow kit can itself support a charge based on intent. Treat spores as unscheduled, not as safe.

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

Virginia has not legalized or decriminalized psilocybin, but 2026 brought the first psilocybin bill ever signed into Virginia law — and it is narrower than the headlines suggested. On April 6, 2026, Gov. Abigail Spanberger approved HB 1347 (Del. Laura Jane Cohen) and its identical companion SB 379 (Sen. Jennifer Boysko) — Acts of Assembly chapters 305 and 306, effective July 1, 2026 — after both passed the House 98–0 and the Senate 40–0 / 38–0.

The law directs the Board of Pharmacy to reschedule an FDA-approved formulation of psilocybin "designed to be administered by a health care professional in a health care setting," consistent with federal scheduling, at its next quarterly meeting after the DEA’s scheduling order is published in the Federal Register. Until the FDA approves such a product and the DEA reschedules it, nothing changes — and even then the law reaches only that pharmaceutical product, not mushrooms.

The path here was long. SB 262 (2022) would have made adult possession a $100 civil penalty; it was passed by indefinitely in Senate Judiciary (8–6–1). SB 932 (2023) would have created a Psilocybin Advisory Board and moved psilocybin to Schedule III; it passed the Senate 25–15 and was tabled in House Rules (13–5), while HB 1513 (2023) — a medical-possession bill — died in a House subcommittee. SB 229 (2024), a work group on a veteran-suicide "breakthrough therapies" council, passed the Senate 35–5 and was continued to 2025 in House Rules; its successor SB 1101 (2025) passed the Senate 40–0 and was passed by indefinitely in House Rules (18–0). SB 1135 (2025), which would have had the Board of Pharmacy write prescribing rules for crystalline-polymorph psilocybin after FDA approval, passed both chambers (40–0 / 51–45) and was vetoed by Gov. Youngkin on March 24, 2025; the Senate sustained the veto. No decriminalization bill has advanced since 2022, and no access program exists — psilocybin remains a Schedule I felony statewide.

Looking beyond Virginia?

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

Virginia’s Drug Control Act makes no exception for religious use — but federal law offers a narrower principle. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) can protect the sincere religious use of a sacrament even where a substance is otherwise illegal. It is a defense, decided case by case — not immunity, and not legalization.

At the state level, Virginia has its own statute — Va. Code § 57-2.02 — under which no state or local "government entity" may substantially burden a person’s exercise of religion unless it shows the burden is essential to further a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of doing so; it may be raised as a claim or as a defense, including in a prosecution. Federal RFRA, by contrast, binds only the federal government (City of Boerne v. Flores, 1997). Neither law is an exemption for psilocybin, and no Virginia court has applied § 57-2.02 to a psilocybin case.

The Church states this honestly: sincere sacramental practice may be protected; it never promises you cannot be prosecuted under state or federal law.

How TCOP Supports Members in Virginia

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

Virginia 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

Psilocybin remains illegal under Virginia law. Possession is a Class 5 felony, while unauthorized cultivation, distribution, and some forms of sharing can carry more serious penalties. Virginia’s 2026 law did not legalize mushrooms or create general public access.

TCOP is built on sincere belief, ongoing spiritual practice, intentional sacramental use, education, and member support—the kinds of facts courts examine under RFRA. Based on our legal review, qualifying Virginia members may receive the sacrament through this religious framework.

Membership does not legalize psilocybin under Virginia law or guarantee immunity. Virginia Code §57-2.02 provides state religious-freedom protection, while federal RFRA and the Supreme Court’s O Centro decision apply to federal government action. Every claim remains case-specific.

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

Sources for this guide include state statutes, court decisions, and official policy records. Laws can change; this information is educational and is not legal advice.

1. Va. Code § 54.1-3446 — Schedule I (psilocybin and psilocyn, subd. 3) · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
2. Va. Code § 54.1-3401 — definitions ("manufacture," "production" includes cultivation) · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
3. Va. Code § 18.2-250 — possession of a controlled substance (Class 5 felony) · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
4. Va. Code § 18.2-251 — first-offender deferral and dismissal · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
5. Va. Code § 18.2-248 — manufacture, sale and distribution; accommodation · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
6. Va. Code § 18.2-10 — punishment for felony classes · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
7. Va. Code § 18.2-265.1 — drug paraphernalia, including cultivation kits · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
8. Va. Code § 57-2.02 — religious freedom preserved · Code of Virginia, Virginia LIS
9. 2026 Acts of Assembly, ch. 306 (SB 379) — Board of Pharmacy; psilocybin · Virginia LIS
10. HB 1347 (2026), ch. 305 — bill history and text · Virginia LIS
11. SB 379 (2026), ch. 306 — bill history and text · Virginia LIS
12. SB 1135 (2025) — vetoed March 24, 2025; veto sustained · Virginia LIS
13. SB 1101 (2025) — passed by indefinitely in House Rules · Virginia LIS
14. SB 229 (2024) — continued to 2025 in House Rules · Virginia LIS
15. SB 932 (2023) — passed the Senate, tabled in House Rules · Virginia LIS
16. HB 1513 (2023) — tabled in subcommittee · Virginia LIS
17. SB 262 (2022) — passed by indefinitely in Senate Judiciary · Virginia LIS
18. Marble Technologies, Inc. v. City of Hampton (Va. 2010) — the Dillon Rule · Supreme Court of Virginia
19. 21 C.F.R. § 1308.11 — federal Schedule I · U.S. eCFR (official)
20. Federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act — 42 U.S.C. § 2000bb-1 · U.S. Code (official)
21. Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006) — sacramental use of a Schedule I psychedelic (bound volume 546, opinion at p. 418) · Supreme Court of the United States
22. City of Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997) — federal RFRA does not bind state and local government (bound volume 521, opinion at p. 507) · Supreme Court of the United States