Drugs / B2
Psilocybin or MDMA possession
The person is found with one personal dose of psilocybin mushrooms or MDMA.
What we score
What is the legal consequence? Score the more lenient of the two.
Default assumptions: Unless a vignette says otherwise, the person is a 30-year-old citizen of sound mind with no criminal record, acting alone, on their own behalf and not for profit, in an ordinary residential area. Where subnational units (states, provinces, cantons, Länder) make their own law, each unit is scored and the result is weighted by population. 'The state' includes police, prosecutors, courts, regulators, tax authorities and anyone acting on their orders, including platforms obeying takedown orders.
Score anchors
Both the law score and the practice score use these anchors. Half points are used when a country sits between two of them.
| Score | What it means for this vignette |
|---|---|
| 10 | Legal. |
| 8 | Legal within limits or with registration. |
| 6 | Decriminalised or tolerated; no penalty in practice. |
| 3 | Administrative fine or referral. |
| 2 | Crime: fine or under 1 year. |
| 1 | Crime: 1 to 5 years. |
| 0 | Over 5 years, or compulsory detention. |
Evidence used: As B1.
How each country scores
| Country | Law | Practice | Process | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4.4 | MDMA is a List I drug; possessing a small amount for personal use carries up to 1 year (art. 10(6) Opiumwet). Psilocybin mushrooms have been on List II since 2008, and small personal amounts are a minor offence (art. 11(7) with 11(1): up to 1 month or a fine). The Aanwijzing Opiumwet sets no targeted enforcement and no prosecution for a user amount (one pill/0.5 g, or 0.5 g dried or 5 g fresh mushrooms), so the substance is seized and the case dropped. |
| Mexico | 6 | 4.5 | −1 | 4.1 | Scored on MDMA, the more lenient option: one tablet of up to 200 mg is within the LGS art. 479 table, so no prosecution under art. 478. Psilocybin is not in the table, so possessing mushrooms falls under Federal Penal Code art. 195 bis (4 to 7.5 years), with an exception only for indigenous ceremonial use. In practice police detentions and extortion of users are common, as for cannabis. |
| Czechia | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3.0 | Possessing a 'small amount' of any controlled substance other than cannabis, including psilocybin and MDMA, is an administrative offence under Addictive Substances Act § 39(2)(e), with a fine of up to 50,000 CZK. Amounts above 'small' are a crime under § 284 (up to 2 years). Medical psilocybin is legal only through a specialist doctor. |
| New Zealand | 2 | 4 | −0.5 | 2.7 | MDMA is Class B (possession max 3 months or $500); psilocybin is Class A (max 6 months or $1,000) (Misuse of Drugs Act s7(2)). The s7(5) presumption against prosecution applies to all possession, and Police report 83% of first-time adult possession cases end in warnings or other alternative actions. Outcomes for non-cannabis drugs are harsher than for cannabis, and possession is still a ground for search. |
| Switzerland | 2.5 | 2.5 | 0 | 2.5 | Possessing any narcotic for one's own consumption is a contravention punishable by a fine (Art. 19a), and minor cases may be dropped or end in a caution. Art. 19b's 'negligible quantity' exemption has a statutory threshold only for cannabis, so one dose of psilocybin or MDMA is normally handled by penal order with a fine. Contravention fines are criminal sanctions but do not appear on a standard criminal-record extract, so the score sits between 2 and 3. |
| Denmark | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1.6 | Psilocybin mushrooms and MDMA are banned substances, and possession of one dose falls under the same § 3 of the Euphoriant Substances Act: fine or up to 2 years. Fines are scaled to the drug's harmfulness and are higher than for cannabis; warnings are excluded except for addicts. |
| United States | 1.5 | 2 | −0.5 | 1.3 | Psilocybin and MDMA are Schedule I, and federal simple possession carries up to 1 year (21 U.S.C. 844). Only Colorado (Prop 122, about 2% of the population) removed criminal penalties for adults 21+ possessing psilocybin. Oregon allows it only inside licensed service centres and recriminalised possession of small amounts in 2024. In most states possession of any Schedule I drug is a felony or a jailable misdemeanour, e.g. a state jail felony in Texas. City 'lowest priority' resolutions (Denver, Oakland, Seattle, Detroit) are not decriminalisation. The usual outcome is arrest followed by diversion or probation. |
| Ireland | 0 | 3 | −0.5 | 1.3 | MDMA and psilocybin are controlled drugs; possession under Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 s3/s27(1)(b) is punishable by up to 12 months summarily or 7 years on indictment. From 1 September 2026 gardaí may refer an adult first-time possessor to the HSE Health Referral Scheme instead of prosecuting (the adult caution covers cannabis only); anyone with a prior drug conviction or caution, or who refuses referral, is prosecuted, usually in the District Court with a fine or probation. |
| Germany | 1 | 2.5 | −1 | 0.9 | Psilocybin and MDMA are scheduled narcotics. Possession is a crime under § 29(1) Nr. 3 BtMG: up to 5 years or a fine. Prosecutors may drop small personal-use cases (§ 31a BtMG) and courts may waive punishment (§ 29(5)), but for these drugs dismissal often comes with a payment condition or a penalty order (fine). Every find opens a criminal file and is reported to the driving-licence authority. |
| Singapore | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.6 | MDMA and psilocybin are controlled drugs. Possession is punished under the Misuse of Drugs Act Second Schedule with up to 10 years and/or a S$20,000 fine, and CNB charges possession in court. Consumption leads to compulsory supervision or Drug Rehabilitation Centre detention, and a 5-year supervision regime. |
| United Kingdom | 0 | 2.5 | −1 | 0.5 | MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms are both Class A; possession carries up to 7 years under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. In the year to March 2026, 33% of non-cannabis possession offences in E&W ended in charge or summons and 31% in community resolutions, with some forces running diversion schemes. A first-time Class A possessor typically gets a caution, a community resolution or a fine with a criminal record. |