Cities That Decriminalized Psilocybin: 2026 Guide

About 30 US cities and counties in at least seven states and Washington, D.C. have decriminalized psilocybin or all entheogenic plants. Massachusetts has the most (8 cities), followed by California (6), Michigan (5 plus Washtenaw County), and Washington (4 plus 2 counties). Denver was the first US city to decriminalize psilocybin, in May 2019.

Denver, Colorado, was the first US city to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms. Initiative 301 passed on May 7, 2019 with 50.6% voter approval. It directed Denver police to treat personal possession of psilocybin by adults 21+ as the lowest law enforcement priority.

No. City decriminalization tells local police to deprioritize enforcement — possession is still illegal under state and federal law. There is no legal way to buy psilocybin in any decriminalized city. State troopers and federal agents can still enforce drug laws. Only Oregon's Measure 109 service centers and Colorado's licensed healing centers offer legal regulated access.

Massachusetts has the most cities, with 8 jurisdictions that have passed decriminalization measures: Somerville (2021), Cambridge (2021), Northampton (2021), Easthampton (2021), Amherst (2022), Salem (2023), Provincetown (2023), and Medford (2024). The state itself voted down Question 4 in 2024, but the city-level momentum has continued.

Detroit's Proposal E (November 2021) was the first ballot initiative in any US city to decriminalize entheogens. It passed with 61% voter approval and made personal possession and therapeutic use of entheogenic plants by adults the lowest law enforcement priority in Detroit. Commercial sale remains illegal under Michigan state law.

Decriminalization removes or reduces criminal penalties but does not create legal access. Possession is still technically illegal — just rarely prosecuted locally. Legalization means a state has set up a regulated program where adults can legally use the drug in licensed settings. Oregon and Colorado are legalized; Detroit, DC, Oakland, and the others are decriminalized only. See the /tools/psychedelic-legalization-tracker for the full current state-by-state legal and decrim picture.

No. Initiative 81 (2020) only deprioritizes police enforcement of non-commercial psilocybin, ayahuasca, mescaline, and ibogaine use — it does not legalize these substances, which remain Schedule I under federal law. DC's measure is also structurally weaker than a typical city resolution: because Congress reviews all DC legislation, Initiative 81 needed a 30-legislative-day Congressional review before it could take effect. See our <a href="/law/dc-initiative-81">DC Initiative 81 guide</a> for what changed and what didn't.

No. Municipal decriminalization ordinances in cities like Denver, Oakland, Santa Cruz, and Seattle only direct local police and prosecutors to deprioritize enforcement within that city's limits. Psilocybin remains Schedule I federally and under the law of the state the city sits in, unless that state has enacted its own separate statewide reform, like Oregon or Colorado. City decriminalization does not travel with the person: transporting mushrooms out of a decriminalized city into a non-decriminalized jurisdiction, or across a state line, exposes the traveler to that jurisdiction's full possession and trafficking penalties.

No. Decriminalization ordinances address personal possession and cultivation enforcement priority only; they do not touch impaired-driving law. Driving under the influence of psilocybin remains illegal everywhere, including in every decriminalized city and in Oregon's and Colorado's statewide programs. DUI and DUID statutes are separate from possession law and are not modified by any psilocybin decriminalization or legalization measure passed so far.

No federal legalization has occurred, and Executive Order 14401 did not reschedule psilocybin. Under 21 U.S.C. § 812, psilocybin remains a Schedule I controlled substance as of June 2026. The formal rescheduling path under 21 U.S.C. § 811 requires a scientific evaluation by HHS and the FDA followed by DEA rulemaking, a process that can take years. Rescheduling an FDA- approved psilocybin product would only authorize prescription treatment for that specific medicine. That regulatory action would not legalize psilocybin generally.