Are Magic Mushrooms Legal in Connecticut? Psilocybin Laws (2026)

Magic mushrooms are illegal in Connecticut: psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I controlled substances under the state's scheduling regulation, RCSA 21a-243-7(c)(32)-(33), and possessing any quantity is a class A misdemeanor under Conn. Gen. Stat. 21a-279, while selling is punishable by up to 15 years under 21a-277(a). The one change for some people is a state research pilot: Public Act 26-108, effective July 1, 2026, revised the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot (17a-484g), which provides psilocybin-assisted therapy only within an FDA-approved research program. For other states, see our guide to psilocybin mushroom laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-11. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Connecticut state law on psilocybin: the Department of Consumer Protection (DCP) Schedule I regulation (RCSA 21a-243-7), the definition, scheduling, licensing, possession and sale sections of Chapter 420b of the General Statutes (21a-240, 21a-243, 21a-246, 21a-277, 21a-278, 21a-278a, 21a-279, 21a-283a), the psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot (17a-484g) as amended by Public Act 26-108, a firearm-permit provision of Public Act 25-43, the 2025 decriminalization bill HB 7065 and the impaired-driving statute, with one paragraph on federal law. It does not cover municipal resolutions or ordinances, employer or school policies, federal property or other states' laws.

Are magic mushrooms legal in Connecticut?

No. Connecticut lists both compounds in Schedule I. In RCSA 21a-243-7(c), the regulation lists:

(32) Psilocybin; (33) Psilocyn;

Chapter 420b reinforces the point in its definition of hallucinogenic substances, 21a-240(23):

"Hallucinogenic substances" are psychodysleptic substances, other than cannabis-type substances, which assert a confusional or disorganizing effect upon mental processes or behavior and mimic acute psychotic disturbances. Exemplary of such drugs are mescaline, peyote, psilocyn and d-lysergic acid diethylamide, which are controlled substances under this chapter unless modified.

The statute names psilocyn; the regulation names both psilocybin and psilocyn. Connecticut schedules drugs by DCP regulation rather than in the statute itself: 21a-240(9) defines a "controlled substance" as one "in schedules I to V, inclusive, of the Connecticut controlled substance scheduling regulations adopted pursuant to section 21a-243." Public Act 26-8, which re-enacts subdivisions (20) to (29) of section 21a-240 effective October 1, 2026, keeps the wording of subdivision (23) unchanged.

Connecticut has not enacted decriminalization, an adult-use market or a licensed natural-medicine program for psilocybin. Possessing psilocybin is a crime except as Chapter 420b authorizes.

Mushrooms and spores

Neither Chapter 420b nor RCSA 21a-243-7 mentions mushrooms or spores by name. The regulation lists the two compounds, so whether a material is covered turns on whether it contains psilocybin or psilocyn. No Connecticut statute or regulation addresses spores separately.

Possession penalties

Section 21a-279(a)(1), as amended by Public Act 26-8, section 21 (effective October 1, 2026, which changed only the cannabis cross-reference), reads:

Any person who possesses or has under such person's control any quantity of any controlled substance, except any quantity of cannabis, as defined in section 21a-240, and except as authorized in this chapter or chapter 420f, shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor.

A class A misdemeanor carries up to one year (53a-36(1)) and a fine of up to $2,000 (53a-42(1)). There is no weight threshold for psilocybin possession and no separate psilocybin tier; "any quantity" is enough.

• Second offense. The court "shall evaluate such person and, if the court determines such person is a drug-dependent person, the court may suspend prosecution of such person and order such person to undergo a substance abuse treatment program" (21a-279(a)(2)).
• Later offenses. The court "may find such person to be a persistent offender for possession of a controlled substance in accordance with section 53a-40" (21a-279(a)(3)).
• Near a school or child care center. Under 21a-279(b), possession within 200 feet of a school or licensed child care center by a person who is not a student there is a class A misdemeanor carrying a mandatory term of imprisonment and probation with community service.

Overdose protection. Under 21a-279(d), the possession offense does not apply to a person who in good faith seeks medical help for someone they reasonably believe is experiencing an overdose "from the ingestion, inhalation or injection of intoxicating liquor or any drug or substance," to the person for whom help is sought, or to a person who seeks help for their own overdose, when the evidence of possession came from seeking that help. Seeking help during the execution of a warrant or a lawful search does not count as good faith. The protection applies to possession, not to sale.

The half-ounce figure in a firearm-permit law

The firearm-permit statute, 29-28(b), as amended by Public Act 25-43 (approved June 10, 2025; section 4 effective October 1, 2025), lists among the disqualifying convictions "possession of a controlled substance or hallucinogenic substance, each as defined in section 21a-240, other than less than four ounces of cannabis, less than one-half ounce of psilocybin or nicotine". That exclusion sits only in the clause covering a misdemeanor violation "in another state, a federal, tribal or military court or any foreign jurisdiction during the preceding eight years." A Connecticut "misdemeanor violation of section 21a-279 on or after October 1, 2015" is a separate disqualifier in the same subdivision, with no amount exception. The same wording appears in the pistol or revolver eligibility certificate statute, 29-36f, and the long gun eligibility certificate statute, 29-37p (sections 5 and 6 of the act). None of this creates a lawful amount of psilocybin, and 21a-279 contains no psilocybin carve-out.

Sale, manufacture and possession with intent to sell

Psilocybin and psilocyn are hallucinogenic substances (21a-240(23) names psilocyn), so sale-type offenses fall under the higher tier of 21a-277. Subsection (a)(1) covers anyone who would "manufacture, distribute, sell, prescribe, dispense, compound, transport with the intent to sell or dispense, possess with the intent to sell or dispense, offer, give or administer to another person, except as authorized in this chapter, any controlled substance that is a (A) narcotic substance, or (B) hallucinogenic substance." The penalties:

• First offense: up to 15 years, and a fine of up to $50,000.
• Second offense: up to 30 years and up to $100,000.
• Any later offense: up to 30 years and up to $250,000.

Mandatory minimum for a person who is not drug-dependent. Section 21a-278(b) covers the same acts involving "(A) a narcotic substance, (B) a hallucinogenic substance, (C) an amphetamine-type substance, or (D) one kilogram or more of a cannabis-type substance," and provides that it "shall not apply to a person who is, at the time of the commission of the offense, a drug-dependent person." For everyone else, a first offense carries "not less than five years or more than twenty years" and any later offense "not less than ten years or more than twenty-five years." The minimum cannot be suspended, except that the court may suspend it for a person who was under 18 at the time or whose mental capacity was significantly impaired, and 21a-283a allows a court to depart from a mandatory minimum on a showing of good cause, subject to the limits in that section.

Weight tiers do not name psilocybin. The weight-based thresholds in 21a-278(a) apply to "one ounce or more of heroin or methadone," "one-half ounce or more of cocaine or cocaine in a free-base form," and "a substance containing five milligrams or more of lysergic acid diethylamide." Psilocybin is not on that list, so psilocybin sale charges are graded by 21a-277(a) and 21a-278(b), not by weight.

Growing. Chapter 420b has no psilocybin-specific cultivation offense. Section 21a-240(28) defines "manufacture" as "the production, preparation, cultivation, growing, propagation, compounding, conversion or processing of a controlled substance," and sections 21a-277(a) and 21a-278(b) both apply to anyone who would "manufacture" a hallucinogenic substance except as authorized, at the same penalty levels as sale.

Location and minor enhancements

Section 21a-278a adds mandatory consecutive time on top of a 21a-277 or 21a-278 sentence:

• Schools, public housing and child care centers. A sale-type violation intended at a location the trier of fact finds is in or on, or within 200 feet of the perimeter of, a public or private elementary or secondary school, a public housing project or a licensed child care center adds a term of three years, "which shall not be suspended and shall be in addition and consecutive to any term of imprisonment imposed for violation of section 21a-277 or 21a-278." Public Act 21-102 set the 200-foot distance, replacing 1,500 feet.
• Selling to a minor. A person 18 or older who is not drug-dependent and distributes to a person under 18 who is at least two years younger adds two consecutive years.
• Using a minor. Using a minor in the offense adds three years.

Section 21a-283a's good-cause departure from a mandatory minimum excludes violations of 21a-278a(a) and (c); the school-zone term in 21a-278a(b) is not among those exclusions.

Connecticut's psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot

Connecticut's only statutory psilocybin program is a research pilot, and it does not change the possession or sale penalties described above. Section 17a-484g(b), as amended by Public Act 26-108, reads:

The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall establish, within available appropriations, a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program, to be administered by a medical school in the state. Such pilot program shall provide qualified patients with MDMA-assisted or psilocybin-assisted therapy as part of a research program approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration pursuant to 21 CFR 312, as amended from time to time.

Public Act 26-108 rewrote 17a-484g(a)(3), which now defines a "qualified patient" as "an individual who is eighteen years of age or older and meets clinical eligibility criteria established by the institutional review board of the medical school selected to administer the pilot program under subsection (b) of this section, including, but not limited to, a resident of the state who is (A) a veteran, (B) a retired first responder, or (C) a direct care health care worker."

The pilot is not a general access program. It runs "within available appropriations," through one medical school, as part of an FDA-approved research program, and patients are those who meet the clinical criteria that school's institutional review board sets.

Before Public Act 26-108, the pilot was set to close once the DEA approved a medical use for MDMA and psilocybin. That end point is gone.

FDA approval and federal rescheduling

Connecticut ties its schedule to federal action through 21a-243(h), which reaches a drug that is not already controlled in Connecticut when it is designated under the federal Controlled Substances Act. Psilocybin is already in Connecticut Schedule I, and the same section provides: "Nothing in this section shall prevent the Commissioner of Consumer Protection from designating a controlled substance differently in the Connecticut controlled substance scheduling regulations than such controlled substance is designated in the federal Controlled Substances Act, as amended from time to time."

The Schedule I regulation itself covers FDA approval followed by federal rescheduling. RCSA 21a-243-7(g) provides that a Schedule I substance "used for a medical purpose under the supervision of a practitioner, that has been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, or successor agency, to have a medical use and is reclassified in any schedule of the controlled substances or unscheduled under the federal Controlled Substances Act shall have the same designation for state purposes as that designated under the federal Controlled Substances Act, unless otherwise specifically designated by the Commissioner of Consumer Protection." No psilocybin drug has FDA approval and psilocybin remains in federal Schedule I, so the provision has not been triggered.

Decriminalization bills

Connecticut lawmakers have considered decriminalization, but no bill has become law. HB 7065 of 2025, "An Act Concerning the Decriminalization of Possession of Small Amounts of Psilocybin," passed the House on May 19, 2025 and was tabled for the Senate calendar on May 20, 2025, its last recorded action. It did not become law, so the possession penalties above still apply.

Research licenses

Separately from the pilot, 21a-246(a) provides that "no person within this state shall operate a laboratory for the purpose of research or analysis using controlled substances without first obtaining a license to do so from the Commissioner of Consumer Protection." Teaching laboratories in licensed institutions are exempt, except for narcotic drugs and Schedule I and II substances, so Schedule I research needs the license.

Federal law

Psilocybin and psilocyn are federal Schedule I substances under 21 CFR 1308.11(d)(29)-(30), and the listing reaches any material, compound, mixture or preparation containing any quantity of them. Under 21 U.S.C. 844(a), simple possession of a controlled substance is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in prison and a minimum fine of $1,000 for a first offense. No DEA or HHS notice or rule moving psilocybin out of Schedule I appears in the Federal Register through October 11, 2026, and no psilocybin drug has FDA approval. Executive Order 14401 (April 18, 2026) directs the FDA and DEA to set up a Right to Try pathway and directs the Attorney General to review rescheduling of Schedule I products that complete Phase 3; it is a policy directive and does not reschedule psilocybin. Our psilocybin mushroom laws by state hub covers the federal layer in more detail.

Driving and criminal records

Connecticut's impaired-driving statute, 14-227a(a), provides that "No person shall operate a motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or both." See our guide to Connecticut DUI laws.

A psilocybin possession or sale conviction is a criminal record, and as noted above a possession conviction can matter for some firearm permits. For whether and when such a record can be erased, see Connecticut expungement laws.

Related

• Psilocybin mushroom laws by state
• Connecticut DUI laws
• Connecticut expungement laws
• Connecticut kratom laws

This article provides general legal information about Connecticut state law as of October 11, 2026. It is not legal advice. Statutory text quoted here is from the General Assembly's current publication of Chapter 420b and the enrolled text of Public Acts 26-8 (for 21a-279(a)(1)), 26-108 and 25-43. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Connecticut, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection or the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

Last updated: 2026-10-11.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are magic mushrooms legal in Connecticut?

No. Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I controlled substances under RCSA 21a-243-7(c)(32)-(33), and possessing any quantity is a class A misdemeanor under 21a-279(a)(1).

What is the penalty for psilocybin possession in Connecticut?

A class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to 1 year (53a-36) and a fine of up to $2,000 (53a-42). On a second offense the court evaluates the person and may suspend prosecution for treatment if the person is drug-dependent (21a-279(a)(2)).

What is the penalty for selling psilocybin in Connecticut?

Under 21a-277(a), up to 15 years and $50,000 for a first offense, 30 years and $100,000 for a second, and 30 years and $250,000 after that. For a person who is not drug-dependent, 21a-278(b) sets a 5-to-20-year range with a mandatory minimum.

Has Connecticut decriminalized psilocybin?

No. HB 7065 of 2025, a bill concerning decriminalization of possession of small amounts of psilocybin, passed the House on May 19, 2025, was tabled for the Senate calendar on May 20, 2025 and did not become law.

Does Connecticut have a psilocybin therapy program?

Connecticut has a DMHAS psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot under 17a-484g, administered by a medical school as part of an FDA-approved research program. Qualified patients are adults who meet the clinical criteria set by that school's institutional review board.

Are psilocybin mushroom spores legal in Connecticut?

Neither Chapter 420b nor the Schedule I regulation mentions mushrooms or spores by name. The regulation lists psilocybin and psilocyn, and no Connecticut statute or regulation addresses spores separately.

Is half an ounce of psilocybin legal in Connecticut?

No. The one-half ounce figure appears in Connecticut's firearm-permit and eligibility-certificate statutes (29-28(b), 29-36f and 29-37p) as amended by Public Act 25-43, and only for out-of-state, federal, tribal, military or foreign possession convictions; a Connecticut 21a-279 conviction on or after October 1, 2015 disqualifies regardless of amount. Possession of any quantity remains a class A misdemeanor under 21a-279.