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

Magic mushrooms are not legal in Vermont: psilocybin is named in the statutory definition of hallucinogenic drugs in 18 V.S.A. 4201, the Department of Health's Regulated Drug Rule lists psilocybin and psilocin, and 18 V.S.A. 4205 makes it unlawful to possess or sell any regulated drug except as chapter 84 of Title 18 authorizes. Possessing a hallucinogenic drug is punishable by up to one year, a fine of up to $2,000, or both under 18 V.S.A. 4235(b)(1), and Vermont has no psilocybin therapy program or decriminalization law that changes this for anyone. 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 Vermont state law on psilocybin: the definitions, rulemaking and prohibition sections of 18 V.S.A. chapter 84 (4201, 4202, 4205), the Department of Health Regulated Drug Rule, the hallucinogenic-drug, manufacturing, minors and school, repeat-offense and overdose-immunity sections (4235, 4236, 4237, 4238, 4254), the felony and misdemeanor definition (13 V.S.A. 1), 2024 Act 126, the 13 V.S.A. 7601 qualifying-crime definition as rewritten by 2025 Act 60, three 2025-2026 bills and the impaired-driving statute (23 V.S.A. 1201), with one paragraph on federal law. It does not cover city or town measures, federal property, employer or school policies, or other states' laws.

Are magic mushrooms legal in Vermont?

No. Vermont's General Assembly wrote psilocybin into the statute. The definition in 18 V.S.A. 4201 provides:

"Hallucinogenic drugs" means stramonium, mescaline or peyote, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin, and all synthetic equivalents of chemicals contained in resinous extractives of Cannabis sativa, or any salts or derivatives or compounds of any preparations or mixtures thereof, and any other substance that is designated ... in the rules adopted by the Department of Health under section 4202 of this title.

Under 4201(29), a "regulated drug" includes "(C) a hallucinogenic drug," alongside narcotic drugs, depressant or stimulant drugs, Ecstasy, cannabis, methamphetamine and xylazine. The Department of Health's Regulated Drug Rule, effective July 15, 2019, repeats the statutory definition in section 3.7 and lists "Psilocybin" and "Psilocin; 4-OH-DMT" under section 7.0, Hallucinogenic Drugs. Rules adopted under 18 V.S.A. 4202 "shall, until modified or rescinded, have the force and effect of law" (4202(b)).

The prohibition is 18 V.S.A. 4205:

It shall be unlawful for any person to manufacture, possess, have under his or her control, sell, prescribe, administer, dispense, or compound any regulated drug, except as authorized in this chapter.

The statute names psilocybin, and the rule names psilocybin and psilocin; both texts list compounds. Neither the 4201 definition nor the rule's list mentions mushrooms or spores.

Psilocybin possession penalties in Vermont

Section 4235 grades hallucinogenic drugs other than LSD. Subsection (b) provides:

(b) Possession. (1) A person knowingly and unlawfully possessing a hallucinogenic drug, other than lysergic acid diethylamide, shall be imprisoned not more than one year or fined not more than $2,000.00, or both. (2) A person knowingly and unlawfully possessing 10 or more doses of a hallucinogenic drug, other than lysergic acid diethylamide, shall be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $25,000.00, or both.

The penalty sections do not use the words felony or misdemeanor. The class comes from 13 V.S.A. 1: "Any other provision of law notwithstanding, any offense whose maximum term of imprisonment is more than two years, for life, or which may be punished by death is a felony. Any other offense is a misdemeanor."

Doses, not grams

Vermont counts doses rather than weight. Section 4235(a) provides that a "'Dose' of a hallucinogenic drug means that minimum amount of a hallucinogenic drug, not commonly used for therapeutic purposes, that causes a substantial hallucinogenic effect. The Department of Health shall adopt rules that establish doses for hallucinogenic drugs. The Department may incorporate, where applicable, dosage calculations or schedules, whether described as 'dosage equivalencies' or otherwise, established by the federal government." The statute sets no gram figure and no rule for counting the rest of a mixture. Section 9.0 of the Regulated Drug Rule, "Dosages and Doses," sets benchmark unlawful dosages under 18 V.S.A. 4234 for a list of named drugs that does not include psilocybin or psilocin, and the rule names no dose for either compound, so how the 10-, 100- and 1,000-dose tiers are applied in a given case is a question for a lawyer licensed in Vermont.

Selling, dispensing or manufacturing psilocybin in Vermont

Section 4235(c)(1) provides: "A person knowingly and unlawfully dispensing a hallucinogenic drug, other than lysergic acid diethylamide, shall be imprisoned not more than three years or fined not more than $25,000.00, or both. A person knowingly and unlawfully selling a hallucinogenic drug, other than lysergic acid diethylamide, shall be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than $25,000.00, or both."

Section 4235 grades possession, dispensing and selling; it has no separate possession-with-intent tier. Production is covered by 4236: "(a) A person knowingly and unlawfully manufacturing or cultivating a regulated drug shall be imprisoned not more than 20 years or fined not more than $1,000,000.00, or both. (b) This section shall not apply to the cultivation of cannabis." Section 4236 does not define manufacturing or cultivating, and the definitions in 18 V.S.A. 4201 contain no separate definition of either term; 4201(14) describes a licensed "manufacturer" as a person licensed "to compound, mix, cultivate, produce, or prepare regulated drugs." Section 4236(b) exempts only the cultivation of cannabis, so producing psilocybin, or growing mushrooms that contain it, carries a practical risk of a charge under 4236.

Enhanced penalties: minors, school grounds and repeat offenses

Minors. Under 18 V.S.A. 4237(b), "A person knowingly and unlawfully selling any regulated drug to a minor shall, in addition to any other penalty, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than 10 years." Dispensing a regulated drug to a minor at least three years younger carries up to 5 years. Section 4237(f)(1) provides that "'Minor' means a person under the age of 18."

School grounds. Section 4237(c) bars knowingly and unlawfully dispensing or selling "a regulated drug to any person on a school bus or on real property owned by a public or private elementary, secondary, or vocational school," selling "a regulated drug to any person on real property abutting real property owned by a public or private elementary, secondary, or vocational school," and dispensing "a regulated drug to any person in public view on real property abutting real property owned by a school." Section 4237(d) provides that selling or dispensing on abutting property "is a violation under this section only if it occurs within 500 feet of the school property. Property shall be considered abutting school property if: (1) it shares a boundary with school property; or (2) it is adjacent to school property and is separated only by a river, stream, or public highway." Under 4237(e), a person who violates subsection (c) "shall, in addition to any other penalty, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of not more than 10 years." These enhancements reach selling and dispensing, not simple possession.

Repeat offenses. Under 18 V.S.A. 4238, "A person convicted of a second or subsequent offense of violating section 4228, 4230, 4231, 4232, 4233, 4234, 4235, 4236 or 4237 of this title, except a violation of subdivision 4230(a)(1), shall be subject to a term of imprisonment or fined up to twice that authorized by those sections, or both."

Is there a psilocybin program or exception in Vermont?

No program exists. Section 4205 allows conduct with a regulated drug only "as authorized in this chapter," and the chapter 84 sections described on this page create no psilocybin therapy program or personal-use exception.

The 2024 Psychedelic Therapy Advisory Working Group

2024 Acts and Resolves No. 126 (S.114), signed May 29, 2024 and effective July 1, 2024, created the Psychedelic Therapy Advisory Working Group, with a report due on or before November 15, 2024. The act provides: "(4) The Working Group shall cease to exist on January 1, 2025." It was a study body; it created no program and changed no penalty. The Department of Mental Health published the Working Group's final report on November 12, 2024. The report states that the group "did not reach a consensus, though the majority did not recommend the creation of a state program for psychedelic therapy at this time," and its summary recommendations begin with extending the working group.

2025-2026 psilocybin and psychedelic bills (not law)

None of these bills is law, and no act of the 2025-2026 General Assembly mentions psilocybin or psychedelics. Possession of psilocybin remains a crime under 4235.

Would FDA approval or federal rescheduling change Vermont law?

The chapter 84 sections described on this page contain no provision tied to FDA approval of a psilocybin drug. Vermont's list is built from its statute and Department of Health rules, and apart from 4235(a), which lets the Department incorporate federal dosage calculations or schedules when setting doses, the only reference to the federal schedules in those sections is 4228(b), which uses them to define "controlled" for a misrepresentation offense. Because psilocybin is named in 4201 itself, a federal change would leave that statutory text as written unless the General Assembly amended it.

Overdose immunity

Vermont's overdose immunity law, 18 V.S.A. 4254(b), provides that "A person who, in good faith and in a timely manner, seeks medical assistance for someone who is experiencing a drug overdose shall not be cited, arrested, or prosecuted for a violation of this chapter," and the protection also covers the person experiencing the overdose. It is limited to evidence gained as a proximate result of seeking help and does not bar prosecution on evidence from an independent source (4254(g)).

Federal psilocybin law

Psilocybin and psilocyn are also federal Schedule I hallucinogens, reaching any material, compound, mixture or preparation containing any quantity of them (21 CFR 1308.11(d)(29), (30), October 6, 2026 version). Federal simple possession of a controlled substance is a misdemeanor under 21 U.S.C. 844(a), with a term of up to 1 year and a minimum $1,000 fine for a first offense. No psilocybin drug is FDA-approved, and no DEA or HHS notice to reschedule psilocybin appears in the Federal Register through October 11, 2026. Executive Order 14401 (April 18, 2026) directs federal agencies to act on psychedelic drugs, including a review of rescheduling Schedule I products that complete Phase 3 trials, but it does not reschedule psilocybin and creates no enforceable right. Our psilocybin mushroom laws by state hub covers the federal layer in more detail.

Driving after taking psilocybin in Vermont

Vermont's impaired-driving statute, 23 V.S.A. 1201, bars operating a vehicle "(3) when the person is under the influence of any other drug or under the combined influence of alcohol and any other drug," and subsection (h) defines "under the influence of a drug" to mean "a person's ability to operate a motor vehicle safely is diminished or impaired in the slightest degree." Section 1201(a) contains no per se drug-concentration clause, so a drug charge under (a)(3) rests on impairment. See our guide to Vermont DUI laws.

Sealing a psilocybin possession record

2025 Act 60 (S.12), signed June 12, 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, rewrote the definition of a "qualifying crime" for sealing criminal history records in 13 V.S.A. 7601(4). The current definition covers "all misdemeanor offenses except" a list of excluded offenses and, among felonies, "offenses relating to possessing, cultivating, selling, dispensing, or transporting regulated drugs, including violations of 18 V.S.A. § ... 4235(b) and (c)." A qualifying crime is only the starting point; who is eligible and how sealing works are covered in our guide to Vermont expungement laws.

Where Vermont's psilocybin rules come from

Related

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

This article provides general legal information about Vermont state law as of October 11, 2026. It is not legal advice. Statute text is quoted from Vermont Statutes Online, an unofficial copy that includes the actions of the 2025 session of the General Assembly, and no 2025-2026 act mentions psilocybin or psychedelics. The Regulated Drug Rule is quoted from the Department of Health's posted copy, which carries an effective date of July 15, 2019. The three bills show only introduction and committee referral. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Vermont.

Last updated: 2026-10-11.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are magic mushrooms legal in Vermont?

No. Psilocybin is named in the definition of hallucinogenic drugs in 18 V.S.A. 4201, the Regulated Drug Rule lists psilocybin and psilocin, and 18 V.S.A. 4205 makes it unlawful to possess or sell a regulated drug. Vermont has no psilocybin therapy program or decriminalization law.

What is the penalty for possessing psilocybin in Vermont?

Knowingly and unlawfully possessing a hallucinogenic drug other than LSD carries up to 1 year, a fine of up to $2,000, or both under 18 V.S.A. 4235(b)(1). Possessing 10 or more doses carries up to 5 years and a fine of up to $25,000, with higher tiers at 100 and 1,000 doses.

Is psilocybin possession a felony in Vermont?

Simple possession, with a one-year maximum, is a misdemeanor under 13 V.S.A. 1, which makes an offense a felony only when its maximum term is more than two years. The 10-dose tier and above, selling, dispensing and manufacturing all carry longer maximums and are felonies.

Does Vermont measure psilocybin by weight?

No. Section 4235 grades hallucinogenic drugs by the number of doses, and the statute leaves it to the Department of Health to set a dose by rule. It does not use grams.

Did Vermont decriminalize psilocybin?

No. H.452 (2025) would decriminalize certain psilocybin conduct by adults 21 and older and create a Psilocybin Therapeutic Consultation Program, as introduced, but it was read and referred to the House Committee on Human Services on February 28, 2025 and is not law.

What did Vermont's Psychedelic Therapy Advisory Working Group do?

2024 Act 126 created the Working Group as a study body, with a report due on or before November 15, 2024. The act provided that the Working Group would cease to exist on January 1, 2025, and it created no psilocybin program. The final report, published by the Department of Mental Health on November 12, 2024, states that the majority did not recommend the creation of a state program for psychedelic therapy at this time.

Can a psilocybin possession record be sealed in Vermont?

Under 13 V.S.A. 7601(4), as rewritten by 2025 Act 60 effective July 1, 2025, the qualifying crimes for sealing include misdemeanor offenses other than listed exceptions and felony offenses relating to possessing, cultivating, selling, dispensing or transporting regulated drugs, including violations of 18 V.S.A. 4235(b) and (c). Eligibility conditions and procedure are covered on our Vermont expungement page.