The Psychedelic Renaissance: A Timeline of Key Milestones

This timeline runs from a Swiss laboratory in 1938 to the regulatory decisions of 2026. Every dated entry carries its source. For the current evidence on a particular condition, the conditions pages are the place to look; for current law where you are, see legal status by country. Indigenous use of these plants is far older than anything here, and is covered in Indigenous use and cultural respect.

Discovery: 1938 to 1958

1938

Albert Hofmann, a chemist at Sandoz in Basel, made the twenty-fifth compound in a series of lysergic acid derivatives: lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD-25. (McGraw-Hill (copy hosted by MAPS), 1980) Sandoz pharmacologists found nothing of special interest in it, and testing was discontinued. (McGraw-Hill (copy hosted by MAPS), 1980)

1943

Hofmann repeated the synthesis in spring 1943. On 16 April unusual sensations forced him to stop work and go home, and on 19 April he took a deliberate dose and cycled home through what he called his most severe crisis. (McGraw-Hill (copy hosted by MAPS), 1980) Sandoz then supplied LSD as an experimental drug for psychotherapy research and for giving psychiatrists insight into their patients' states. (ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 17 Oct 2018) The longer story is in our article on LSD's history and science.

1955 to 1957

R. Gordon Wasson, a New York banker, and the photographer Allan Richardson took part in a Mazatec mushroom ceremony in Huautla de Jiménez, Mexico, in June 1955. (McGraw-Hill (copy hosted by MAPS), 1980) Wasson's account, "Seeking the magic mushroom", ran in Life on 13 May 1957. (Life magazine, via Google Books, 13 May 1957)

1958

After the French mycologist Roger Heim asked Sandoz for help, Hofmann isolated from the Mexican mushrooms two compounds he named psilocybin and psilocin, published in Experientia in March 1958. (McGraw-Hill (copy hosted by MAPS), 1980)

The first wave: 1950s and 1960s

LSD was widely hailed by psychiatry as a breakthrough in the 1950s and early 1960s, and it proved physiologically safe and non-addictive in controlled experiments. (ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 17 Oct 2018) Much of that early work was small and loosely controlled by modern standards. A 2012 meta-analysis found six randomised trials of LSD for alcoholism, with 536 participants in total, and a lower rate of alcohol misuse at follow-up after LSD (odds ratio 1.96). (Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2012)

1965

A federal regulation began protecting ceremonial peyote use by Indians, as Congress later recorded in law. (Legal Information Institute (Cornell), current)

Prohibition: 1970 to 1999

1970

The Controlled Substances Act was enacted on 27 October 1970 (Public Law 91-513) and placed LSD, psilocybin, mescaline and peyote in Schedule I. (Legal Information Institute (Cornell), current) Clinical research with LSD ended by about this time, following its growing recreational popularity. (ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 17 Oct 2018)

1971

The UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances was concluded in Vienna on 21 February 1971 and entered into force on 16 August 1976. (United Nations Treaty Collection, 21 Feb 1971) It controls psilocybin and psilocin but no plants: the INCB has said that preparations such as ayahuasca and plants such as peyote and Psilocybe mushrooms are not under international control. (Transnational Institute (copy of statute), 2001; Instituto Costarricense sobre Drogas, current page; International Narcotics Control Board, Mar 2011)

1986 and 1987

Brazil's drug council suspended its ban on ayahuasca in 1986 and made the plants' removal from its prohibited lists definitive in 1987. (Ministerio da Justica e Seguranca Publica / Diario Oficial da Uniao, 25 Jan 2010)

1990

In Employment Division v. Smith (17 April 1990), the Supreme Court held that the Free Exercise Clause allowed Oregon to prohibit sacramental peyote use. (United States Reports, via Library of Congress, 17 Apr 1990)

1994

Congress responded with 42 U.S.C. 1996a, making ceremonial peyote use by Indians lawful nationwide. (Legal Information Institute (Cornell), current) The background is in peyote's cultural significance and our peyote position.

The restart: 2000 to 2016

2006

A study gave psilocybin to 36 hallucinogen-naive volunteers; at two months they rated the session as having substantial personal meaning and spiritual significance. (Psychopharmacology, 2006) The same year, a University of Arizona team gave 29 psilocybin doses to 9 people with obsessive-compulsive disorder, in a study run from 2001 to 2004; one person had transient high blood pressure, and all had marked symptom drops in at least one session. (Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Nov 2006) On 21 February the US Supreme Court ruled for the UDV church in a case over its sacramental ayahuasca tea. (United States Reports, via Library of Congress, 21 Feb 2006)

2011

The first randomised pilot of MDMA-assisted therapy, in 20 people with treatment-resistant PTSD, reported a clinical response in 10 of 12 on MDMA and 2 of 8 on placebo. (Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2011)

2014

A pilot study of psilocybin for smoking reported 12 of 15 participants abstinent at six months, with no control group. (Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2014)

2016

An open-label feasibility study gave psilocybin to 12 people with treatment-resistant depression. (The Lancet Psychiatry, 2016) Two randomised trials in people with life-threatening cancer, with 51 and 29 participants, reported lasting drops in depression and anxiety. (Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016; Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2016)

Breakthrough designations: 2017 to 2019

2017

On 16 August 2017 the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to MDMA for PTSD, a status meant to speed development, not an approval. (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), 16 Aug 2017)

2018 and 2019

COMPASS Pathways announced Breakthrough Therapy designation for psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression in October 2018, and the Usona Institute for psilocybin in major depressive disorder in November 2019. (COMPASS Pathways via PR Newswire, 2018; Usona Institute (press release), 2019) On 5 March 2019 the FDA approved esketamine nasal spray (Spravato) for treatment-resistant depression. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Drugs@FDA, 5 Mar 2019; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Drugs@FDA, 2026) Ketamine's own route is covered in the ketamine therapy guide.

Ballots and regulators: 2020 to 2023

2020

Oregon voters approved Measure 109 in November, directing the state to license psilocybin products and services. (Oregon Health Authority, current page; Oregon State Legislature, current edition) Earlier that year, on 12 March, the National Council of Native American Churches asked that peyote be left out of decriminalisation efforts. (Psymposia, 16 Mar 2020)

2021

A phase 3 trial of MDMA-assisted therapy in 90 people with severe PTSD reported a larger fall in symptoms than placebo with therapy. (Nature Medicine, 2021)

2022

Canada let doctors request psilocybin for individual patients through its Special Access Program from 5 January. (Canada Gazette Part II, 5 Jan 2022; Health Canada, 27 Feb 2023) A trial of 233 people found a single 25 mg psilocybin dose beat 1 mg on depression scores at three weeks. (New England Journal of Medicine, 2022) In November Colorado voters approved Proposition 122, the Natural Medicine Health Act. (Colorado Secretary of State, 2022; Colorado Lawyer (Colorado Bar Association))

2023

On 23 June the FDA published its first draft guidance on designing clinical trials of psychedelic drugs. (US Food and Drug Administration, 23 Jun 2023) Australia allowed authorised psychiatrists to prescribe psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression and MDMA for PTSD from 1 July. (Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia), 3 Feb 2023; Therapeutic Goods Administration, current page; Federal Register of Legislation (Australian Government), 30 Sep 2026) Oregon's first licensed service centres opened that summer, and Colorado's SB23-290 set up its licensing system and excluded peyote. (Oregon Health Authority, current page; Colorado General Assembly, 23 May 2023; Colorado General Assembly, 23 May 2023; Colorado Lawyer (Colorado Bar Association)) See our Oregon and Colorado pages for how those programmes work.

Setbacks and new routes: 2024 to 2026

2024

On 4 June an FDA advisory committee voted 9 to 2 that the data did not show MDMA with therapy was effective for PTSD. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 26 Jul 2024) On 9 August Lykos announced a complete response letter: no approval, and a request for another phase 3 trial. (Lykos Therapeutics (press release), 9 Aug 2024; eCFR (Office of the Federal Register), current) On 3 December the Department of Veterans Affairs announced funding for a study of MDMA-assisted therapy in veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder. (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 3 Dec 2024) The MDMA for PTSD page has the evidence.

2025

The FDA approved Spravato as a monotherapy on 21 January. (Johnson & Johnson (press release), 21 Jan 2025) Colorado issued its first healing centre licence on 31 March. (Colorado General Assembly, 23 May 2023; Colorado Department of Revenue, Natural Medicine Division, 2 Apr 2025) Texas SB 2308, funding a consortium for FDA trials of ibogaine, took effect on 11 June, and New Mexico's Medical Psilocybin Act on 20 June. (Texas Legislature Online, 11 Jun 2025; FOX 7 Austin, Jun 2025; New Mexico Legislature, 2025; New Mexico Department of Health, current page) Germany approved a psilocybin compassionate-use programme for treatment-resistant depression, announced on 31 July. (Central Institute of Mental Health (ZI) Mannheim, 31 Jul 2025; The Lancet Psychiatry 13(2):91-93 (online 18 Sep 2025), Feb 2026) Oregon reported 5,935 clients served at licensed centres over the year. (Oregon Health Authority, 2026)

2026

The Czech Republic's medical psilocybin law took effect on 1 January, limited to psychiatric hospitals. (e-Sbirka, Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, 5 Aug 2025) In Colorado, DMT and mescaline became eligible for addition to the natural medicine programme from 1 June, but only on the advisory board's recommendation and regulators' approval. (Colorado General Assembly, 23 May 2023) The FDA finalised its psychedelic trial guidance in July. (eCFR (Office of the Federal Register), current; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jul 2026) On 5 August COMPASS Pathways said the FDA had granted a rolling review of its psilocybin application in April; that is a pending application, not an approval. (COMPASS Pathways plc, via SEC EDGAR, 5 Aug 2026) New Mexico's health department targets 31 December 2026 to start its programme. (New Mexico Legislature, 2025; New Mexico Department of Health, current page)

Reading the timeline

The pattern is a long pause and a slow, uneven restart. As of October 2026, psilocybin and MDMA remain Schedule I in the United States and neither is an FDA-approved medicine. (eCFR (Office of the Federal Register), current; U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jul 2026; Lykos Therapeutics (press release), 9 Aug 2024) Most legal access runs through narrow channels: state programmes, specialist prescribers, compassionate use and clinical trials. Designations, ballot wins and positive pilot studies have often been read as approvals. They are not, and the 2024 MDMA decision showed how far apart those can be.