Are philosopher’s stones legal? The law by country

Fresh philosopher’s stones are legal to buy and use in the Netherlands, for adults, and illegal in almost every other country, including the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States. The legal point in the Netherlands is narrow: sclerotia are not mushrooms, and Dutch law bans mushrooms. Elsewhere the law targets the substances psilocybin and psilocin, or any fungus that contains them, so the distinction does not help. The situation below was checked on 10 October 2026.

The Netherlands

Psilocybin and psilocin are on List I of the Opium Act. Since 1 December 2008 mushrooms containing them are banned as well, through List II (Opium Act). Sclerotia are a different structure from mushrooms and were not included, so fresh truffles are sold openly in smartshops.

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands took this as its starting point in a judgment of 10 April 2026, in a tax case about the VAT rate on truffles. In paragraph 2.1 it states that magic truffles do not fall under the Opium Act, “so that they can be freely cultivated and traded” (Hoge Raad, ECLI:NL:HR:2026:450). The case was about tax, so the sentence records the existing position and creates no new rule.

The status of dried truffles has not been settled in law. The Amsterdam addiction service Jellinek states that dried truffles fall under List I, the category that also covers cocaine. We found no statute or judgment that confirms or contradicts this. Keep truffles fresh and do not dry them.

Two more points apply in practice:

• Age: we found no statutory minimum age for truffles. Shops apply 18 as their own rule.
• Traffic: driving, cycling or riding a scooter under the influence of a substance that impairs driving is an offence under article 8 of the Road Traffic Act 1994.

Taking truffles bought in the Netherlands across a border is a different matter. Each of the countries below regards that as import of a controlled drug.

United Kingdom

Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 added “fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin or an ester of psilocin” to Class A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (legislation.gov.uk). It took effect on 18 July 2005. A sclerotium is fungal tissue that contains psilocybin, an ester of psilocin, so philosopher’s stones are Class A in the United Kingdom, fresh or dried. Possession, supply, production and import are all offences.

This change ended the open trade described in the name chapter, when “Philosopher’s Stone” truffles were sold on London market stalls.

Germany

Psilocybin and psilocin are listed in Annex I of the Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz), the category of substances that cannot be traded at all (BtMG Anlage I). The annex also covers fungi and their parts that contain these substances, when they are intended for intoxication. Truffles therefore count as narcotics in Germany. Importing them from the Netherlands is a criminal offence under section 29 of the act.

United States

Under federal law psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I controlled substances (21 CFR 1308.11). The same applies in Florida, the home of Psilocybe tampanensis: both substances are on Schedule I of the state’s drug law (Florida Statutes 893.03). The species that gave philosopher’s stones their name is a controlled drug in the state where it was found.

Some states have created their own regulated psilocybin services under state law. These do not change the federal position, they do not cover imported truffles, and they are outside the scope of this site.

Everywhere else

Most countries control psilocybin and psilocin under the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Few laws mention sclerotia by name. Whether a truffle counts as a controlled drug then depends on how the law is worded and applied, and in the countries we checked it does. Do not order truffles to, or carry them into, a country where they are not explicitly legal.

The products shown on this site are for adults during a stay in the Netherlands. For what to expect once you are there, see effects and strength.