Is Psilocybin legal in Netherlands?

Legal status

Controlled as a hard drug. Psilocybin is named in lijst I of the Opiumwet, the hard drug list, and the row prints «psilocybine», «psilocine | 3-[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]indol-4-ol». Lijst I placement decides the regime, because article 2 supplies the prohibitions and article 10 the ceilings.

Consequences if caught

Lijst I names the alkaloid and its dephosphorylated form separately. Lijst II then names the mushrooms themselves under the heading Paddo's, division A, paddenstoelen die van nature de stof psilocine of psilocybine bevatten, running to some 190 named species. The alkaloid and the mushroom therefore sit on different lists and attract different articles. Use is not itself made an offence by the Opiumwet, which is why the Dutch position is often misread: article 2 and article 3 reach import, export, cultivation, preparation, sale, supply, transport, manufacture and presence, and presence is what a traveller carrying the substance has. Article 1, second limb, equates the salts of a substance with the substance itself. Article 10 carries the penalties for lijst I. Intentionally having the substance present, the limb at article 2 under C, carries imprisonment of up to 6 years. Intentionally cultivating, preparing, processing, selling, delivering, supplying, transporting or manufacturing it, article 2 under B and D, carries up to 8 years. Intentionally bringing it into or out of Netherlands territory, article 2 under A, carries up to 12 years, so the trafficking and import limbs run from 8 to 12 years. Where the presence, or the bringing into or out of the territory, concerns a small quantity intended for own use, article 10, sixth limb, lowers the ceiling to 1 year or a fine of the third category; it does not reach the article 2 under B and D acts. The fine on the serious limbs is the fifth category, which the Criminal Code prints at 67.000 euro with an editorial note recording 110.000 euro from 1 January 2026. They describe the offences that this row's placement brings into play. The Aanwijzing Opiumwet of the Openbaar Ministerie is prosecution policy and not a statute. For lijst I it treats as a small quantity for own use one bolletje, one ampul, one wikkel or one pill or tablet, in any event a quantity of at most 0,5 gram, and for GHB one consumption unit of 5 ml, with no targeted investigation and prosecution only in support of care. A tolerated quantity is not a lawful one. The Aanwijzing Opiumwet treats 0,5 gram of dried and 5 gram of fresh paddo's as the quantity for own use. The live cell recorded that sclerotia, sold as truffles, are sold lawfully in smart shops to adults of 18 and over, and that is carried forward from it and not verified here. For a prescribed Opiumwet medicine the Schengen route remains the article 75 certificate via the CAK, valid 30 days for up to 4 Schengen countries.

If prescribed or medical

Article 2 of the Opiumwetbesluit forbids prescribing an Opiumwet substance unless one of the two bijlagen to that decree names it, and neither names this one. There is accordingly no lawful prescription route for it outside research under the Wet medisch-wetenschappelijk onderzoek met mensen. No article 75 Schengen certificate is available for it either, because that route presupposes a prescribed medicine.

Documentation

There is no lawful personal import route and no prescription certificate, because bijlage 1 to the Opiumwetbesluit does not name psilocybine and article 2 under A prohibits bringing a lijst I substance into or out of the territory. Mushrooms are the separate lijst II question and attract article 3 instead.

Drug laws and enforcement change and vary within a country. This is not legal advice. Always confirm with Netherlands’s embassy or official drug authority before traveling; penalties can be severe, including imprisonment.