Is psilocybin legal in District of Columbia?

Current status

• Psilocybin and psilocyn are listed as hallucinogenic substances in Schedule I, D.C. Code 48-902.04(3)(R) and (S). (Council of the District of Columbia, current page)

• D.C. voters approved Initiative 81 on 3 November 2020 with 76.18% of the vote. (Ballotpedia, current page)
• The Entheogenic Plant and Fungus Policy Act of 2020 (D.C. Law 23-268) took effect on 16 March 2021 and is codified at D.C. Code 48-921.52. (Council of the District of Columbia, 16 Mar 2021; Council of the District of Columbia, current page)
• The law directs the Metropolitan Police Department to make investigation and arrest of persons 18 or older for non-commercial planting, cultivating, purchasing, transporting, distributing, possessing or using entheogenic plants and fungi among its lowest law-enforcement priorities, and covers plants and fungi containing ibogaine, DMT, mescaline, psilocybin or psilocyn. (Council of the District of Columbia, 16 Mar 2021; Council of the District of Columbia, current page)
• Initiative 81 also calls on the D.C. Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney for D.C. to stop prosecuting residents for these activities; it does not repeal the criminal penalties in the Controlled Substances Act. (Council of the District of Columbia, 16 Mar 2021)

Decriminalized cities and counties

• District of Columbia, 2020: Initiative 81 (D.C. Law 23-268, effective 16 March 2021) made non-commercial adult activity with entheogenic plants and fungi, including psilocybin mushrooms, among the Metropolitan Police Department's lowest law-enforcement priorities. (Council of the District of Columbia, 16 Mar 2021; Council of the District of Columbia, current page)

A local lowest-priority measure tells city or county police and prosecutors where to spend their time. It does not change state or federal law, and state or federal officers can still enforce it.

Penalties

• Possessing a controlled substance without a valid prescription is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail, a fine set by D.C. Code 22-3571.01, or both (D.C. Code 48-904.01(d)(1)); Initiative 81 changes enforcement priority, not this penalty. (Council of the District of Columbia, current page; Council of the District of Columbia, 16 Mar 2021)

Federal law applies in District of Columbia too

• Peyote and mescaline are listed in Schedule I(c) of the Controlled Substances Act, as are psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT and ibogaine. (Legal Information Institute (Cornell) reproducing the U.S. Code, current)
• Outside the exemptions, distributing a Schedule I substance not named in the large-quantity tiers carries up to 20 years and a fine of up to $1,000,000 for an individual on a first offence (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)(C)); simple possession carries up to 1 year and a minimum fine of $1,000 on a first offence (21 U.S.C. 844(a)). (Legal Information Institute (Cornell) reproducing the U.S. Code, current; Legal Information Institute (Cornell) reproducing the U.S. Code, current)

Questions and answers

Is psilocybin legal in District of Columbia?

Psilocybin is still illegal in Washington, D.C.: it is a Schedule I controlled substance under D.C. Code 48-902.04, but voter-approved Initiative 81 makes non-commercial adult use and possession of psilocybin mushrooms among the police's lowest enforcement priorities.

Has any city in District of Columbia decriminalized psilocybin?

1 local measure: District of Columbia (2020). Local measures set enforcement priorities; they do not change state or federal law.

Are there psilocybin bills in District of Columbia?

We found no psilocybin bill in the District of Columbia legislature's 2025 or 2026 sessions.

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