Crossing the Line: The Legality of Psilocybin Microdosing

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As microdosing psilocybin continues to catch the attention of audiences worldwide, some countries rethink their legal policies.

As more and more evidence begins to shed light onto the possible benefits of microdosing magic mushrooms, Canada and other high profile world leaders seriously consider changing existing legislation. As both the US and Canada have learned from the legalization of marijuana, there is often a greater benefit to society when choosing to reconsider existing narcotics laws.

Both Marijuana and psilocybin have been shown to have positive medicinal benefits, but have also been shown to have low-risk identifiers when considered from a recreational point of reference. Both pose far fewer negative health consequences than alcohol, and neither have high addiction profiles. Meaning that the likelihood that either substance would cause harm to a casual recreational user is extremely low.

Outside of an exceptionally low risk to individuals and society at large, mushrooms can also provide some pretty excellent benefits. Particularly through microdosing. Where many are coming forward with extremely positive evidence suggesting that microdosing could indeed help us all out.

Background on Mushrooms

Psilocybin containing mushrooms have been used for millennia, in fact, evidence of their use for medicinal purposes predates written history. Much like cannabis, mushrooms have long been an important aspect to many societies before our own. And also mirroring it’s plant cousin marijuana, mushrooms were swept up in the United Nations drug tirade of the 1970’s.

In the 1960’s many westernized countries were experiencing extreme difficulties with rampant drug and narcotic abuse. Mainly stimulants and opiates. Because of this, the United Nations passed a resolution to essentially block the use of all recreational drugs, which resulted in major countries like the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom signing these bans into law, creating sweeping legislation that had little to do with actual research or health consequences of the substances that were banned. Another farce resulting from this legislation is that many synthetic substances like Methamphetamines and MDMA weren’t yet invented, which resulted in haphazard enforcement of many of the substances outlined in the resolution.

Which led us to where we stand today. Where naturally occurring psychoactive substances like psilocybin and marijuana are often overlooked by enforcement agencies and lawmakers, largely because they cause far fewer issues than many other drugs they are hoping to eliminate. There is also a fair amount of scientific evidence suggesting that both cannabis and psilocybin have real medicinal application, making them even less favorable to focus on as a criminal aspect.

Where Mushrooms Are Legal

• Brazil
• Virgin Islands
• Jamaica
• Netherlands
• Samoa

What Countries Are Considering Changing Legislation

• Canada
• United States
• United Kingdom

Where certain cities in the US have decriminalized the possession of psilocybin containing mushrooms, the United Kingdom has cleared the substance for further research as a mental health adjunct, and Canada’s enforcement of the legality of mushrooms is lax at best- we’re seeing a definite shift in the legality and public sentiment regarding magic mushrooms and any stigma previously applied to them. These three countries are the most obvious to be next to announce a change in legislation regarding the legality of magic mushrooms, but they’re certainly not the only ones considering a change.

What Is Microdosing

Microdosing is the act of taking regularly scheduled, sub-hallucinogenic doses of mushrooms, in order to support mental health or other functional issues. Basically, it means one would take small amounts of psilocybin containing mushrooms every so often in order to reap some pretty incredible cognitive benefits.

Many users can find online retailers of spores and magic mushrooms. Canada has many retailers that sell pre-dosed capsules, with the intent of helping people microdose who are interested. With is a surprising amount. A recent poll reported in Dazed suggested that microdosing had become even more popular during lockdown, as more people had succumbed to depressive habits and anxieties.

Which is one of the many benefits that microdosing is reported to offer. Improvements in mood and energy have proven incredibly useful to many individuals who have been stuck at home and without a social outlet for months on end. Microdosing has also been shown to help improve focus and creativity, which has allowed some to excel within the new work-from-home paradigms.

Microdosing Guide

Depending on what results you’re looking for, your body chemistry, and what manner of psilocybin you have access to, your microdosing schedule will probably differ from others. This is also directly linked to the legislation regarding mushrooms in your particular area.

To find an appropriate microdosing guide, you’ll first need to understand what a minimum threshold dose looks like to you. This is considered to be the maximum amount of psilocybin you can take without feeling any adverse or hallucinogenic effects. This amount may change over time, particularly dependent upon how often you take a microdose. As you may begin to build a tolerance to psilocybin. However, most microdosing schedules account for this, and as the body is quick to process and eliminate psilocybin, microdosing schedules will often include downtime or “off days” to support this natural process.

Can I Buy Shrooms: Canada Says Yes

Explicitly if you grow them yourself, as mushroom spore kits are legal. While the mushrooms s themselves are illegal to buy, it has yet to stop the open online sale of these substances, particularly by dispensaries online. This is largely because most enforcement agencies refuse to waste time managing the sale of psilocybin, as it’s a low risk of overdose or addiction, and few people who indulge recreationally cause problems. Leaving many agencies to focus their efforts on more harmful criminal drug trafficking situations.

Legal Microdosing: Canada Says Yes

Well, yes as long as you have a prescription. Outside of that, mushrooms are simple to obtain, even ones that have been pre-dosed for convenience. So even without a prescription it’s still simple to start microdosing- but word of warning, despite the fact that the police don’t often enforce the illegalities of psilocybin possession, the substance still remains officially illegal. So obtaining mushrooms and beginning a microdose schedule without a prescription does come with a minimal amount of risk.