Psilocybin law in District of Columbia

Decriminalised or deprioritised Checked 26 October 2026

Psilocybin is still illegal in Washington, D.C.: it is a Schedule I controlled substance under D.C. Code 48-902.04, but voter-approved Initiative 81 makes non-commercial adult use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms among the police's lowest enforcement priorities.

Psilocybin is still illegal, but state law reduces the penalty for personal possession, or one or more cities or counties have made it a lowest enforcement priority. Supplying it remains a crime. A summary of published sources, not legal advice.

Source status: Prohibited. Psilocybin remains a Schedule I drug under US federal law.

Scheduling

Psilocybin and psilocyn are listed as hallucinogenic substances in Schedule I, D.C. Code 48-902.04(3)(R) and (S). [D.C. Code 48-902.04, Schedule I enumerated, Council of the District of Columbia, read 26 October 2026]

What the law says

D.C. voters approved Initiative 81 on 3 November 2020 with 76.18% of the vote. [Washington, D.C., Initiative 81, Entheogenic Plants and Fungus Measure (2020), Ballotpedia, read 26 October 2026]
The Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (D.C. Law 23-268) took effect on 16 March 2021 and is codified at D.C. Code 48-921.52. [D.C. Law 23-268, Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (Initiative 81), Council of the District of Columbia, 2021-03-16, read 26 October 2026] [D.C. Code 48-921.52, Policy regarding investigation and arrest for offenses involving entheogenic plants and fungi, Council of the District of Columbia, read 26 October 2026]
The law directs the Metropolitan Police Department to make investigation and arrest of persons 18 or older for non-commercial planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, possessing or using entheogenic plants and fungi among its lowest law-enforcement priorities, and covers plants and fungi containing ibogaine, DMT, mescaline, psilocybin or psilocyn. [D.C. Law 23-268, Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (Initiative 81), Council of the District of Columbia, 2021-03-16, read 26 October 2026] [D.C. Code 48-921.52, Policy regarding investigation and arrest for offenses involving entheogenic plants and fungi, Council of the District of Columbia, read 26 October 2026]
Initiative 81 also calls on the D.C. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for D.C. to stop prosecuting residents for these activities; it does not repeal the criminal penalties in the Controlled Substances Act. [D.C. Law 23-268, Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (Initiative 81), Council of the District of Columbia, 2021-03-16, read 26 October 2026]

Local measures

Cities or counties that made psilocybin a low enforcement priority. Possession stays a state crime, and police outside these places are not bound.

District of Columbia (2020): Initiative 81 (D.C. Law 23-268, effective 16 March 2021) made non-commercial adult activity with entheogenic plants and fungi, including psilocybin mushrooms, among the Metropolitan Police Department's lowest law-enforcement priorities. [D.C. Law 23-268, Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (Initiative 81), Council of the District of Columbia, 2021-03-16, read 26 October 2026] [D.C. Code 48-921.52, Policy regarding investigation and arrest for offenses involving entheogenic plants and fungi, Council of the District of Columbia, read 26 October 2026]

Penalties

Possessing a controlled substance without a valid prescription is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a fine set by D.C. Code 22-3571.01, or both (D.C. Code 48-904.01(d)(1)); Initiative 81 changes enforcement priority, not this penalty. [D.C. Code 48-904.01, Prohibited acts A; penalties, Council of the District of Columbia, read 26 October 2026] [D.C. Law 23-268, Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (Initiative 81), Council of the District of Columbia, 2021-03-16, read 26 October 2026]

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