No, mushrooms containing psilocybin are not legal in Louisiana, and the state restricts several other hallucinogenic mushrooms that are unregulated almost everywhere else. If you are asking whether mushrooms are legal in Louisiana, the short answer is that possession, cultivation, and sale of psilocybin mushrooms are all felonies, and even Amanita muscaria (the red-and-white fly agaric) is prohibited for human consumption here. A 2026 bill would open the door to clinical research, but nothing on the books decriminalizes personal use.
What Louisiana Actually Prohibits
Two separate statutes apply, and prosecutors can use either one.
The first is Louisiana’s Controlled Dangerous Substances Law. Psilocybin and psilocyn are listed as Schedule I hallucinogens under R.S. 40:964, mirroring their federal classification.1Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:964 – Composition of Schedules2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 21 USC 812 – Schedules of Controlled Substances
The second is R.S. 40:989.1, which targets the mushrooms themselves rather than the chemical. It lists Psilocybe, Panaeolus, Conocybe, and Stropharia species as prohibited hallucinogenic plants, and reaches “any part or portion” of them when intended for human consumption.3Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:989.1 – Unlawful Production, Manufacture, Distribution, or Possession of Hallucinogenic Plants The same statute also lists Amanita muscaria and Amanita pantherina, which contain muscimol rather than psilocybin and are not scheduled under federal law. Louisiana is one of the only states to restrict them.4UC San Diego – Today. Unregulated Sales of a Toxic and Hallucinogenic Mushroom Endanger Public Health
If you have seen Amanita gummies or extracts sold legally online in other states, that status does not travel. Shipping those products into Louisiana or possessing them for consumption carries the same exposure as psilocybin under the hallucinogenic plant statute.
Spores, Grow Kits, and Growing at Home
Some states permit the sale of psilocybin spores on the theory that spores themselves contain no psilocybin. Louisiana’s hallucinogenic plant statute makes that argument hard to run. R.S. 40:989.1 defines a hallucinogenic plant to include “any part or portion” of the listed species and defines “production” broadly enough to cover planting, cultivating, growing, and harvesting.3Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:989.1 – Unlawful Production, Manufacture, Distribution, or Possession of Hallucinogenic Plants Spores held with intent to cultivate fall within that reach, and a grow kit found alongside them is strong evidence of that intent.
Home cultivation is flatly illegal. The statute follows the mushroom through its entire lifecycle, and there is no personal-use exemption.
Penalties for Possession
Under R.S. 40:966(C), possession of a Schedule I substance like psilocybin without a prescription is a felony that scales with weight:
- Less than 2 grams: up to 2 years in prison, with or without hard labor, and a fine up to $5,000.5Louisiana State Legislature. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 40:966
- 2 grams to under 28 grams: 1 to 10 years in prison, with or without hard labor, and a fine up to $5,000.6Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:966 – Penalty for Distribution or Possession With Intent to Distribute Narcotic Drugs Listed in Schedule I
The hallucinogenic plant statute carries its own penalty: 2 to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $20,000 for possessing a preparation of a listed mushroom intended for human consumption.3Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:989.1 – Unlawful Production, Manufacture, Distribution, or Possession of Hallucinogenic Plants Because psilocybin mushrooms sit under both statutes, prosecutors have a choice of charges.
One clarification worth making: the mandatory minimums and life sentences that appear in R.S. 40:966 apply to heroin and narcotic drugs, not to hallucinogens like psilocybin.6Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:966 – Penalty for Distribution or Possession With Intent to Distribute Narcotic Drugs Listed in Schedule I Mushroom charges are still felonies, but they do not carry those mandatory minimums.
Penalties for Selling or Growing
Distribution of a non-narcotic Schedule I hallucinogen, or possession with intent to distribute, carries up to 10 years at hard labor under R.S. 40:966(B).6Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:966 – Penalty for Distribution or Possession With Intent to Distribute Narcotic Drugs Listed in Schedule I Manufacturing, which includes cultivating the mushrooms, falls under the same provision.
Under the hallucinogenic plant statute, producing or distributing a preparation of a listed mushroom carries 2 to 10 years and fines up to $20,000.3Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:989.1 – Unlawful Production, Manufacture, Distribution, or Possession of Hallucinogenic Plants The definition of “production” sweeps in planting, growing, packaging, and labeling.
Collateral Consequences
Prison time and fines are only the first layer. A conviction for possessing any controlled dangerous substance under R.S. 40:966 through 40:970 triggers a mandatory driver’s license suspension of 90 days to one year.7Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 32:430 – Suspension, Revocation, and Denial of Driving Privileges For anyone under 19 at the time of conviction, the suspension lasts until age 18 or at least 90 days, whichever is longer.
A felony drug record also follows you into job applications, professional licensing, rental housing, federal student aid, and firearm eligibility. Defense costs on a felony drug case commonly run from several thousand dollars into the tens of thousands depending on whether the case goes to trial.
The Narrow Decorative-Use Exception
R.S. 40:989.1 contains one carve-out. The statute does not apply to possessing, planting, cultivating, growing, or harvesting a hallucinogenic plant “strictly for aesthetic, landscaping, or decorative purposes.”3Justia. Louisiana Revised Statutes 40:989.1 – Unlawful Production, Manufacture, Distribution, or Possession of Hallucinogenic Plants This is not a general home-grow loophole. It would apply, for example, to someone growing Amanita muscaria in a yard purely for its appearance. Any evidence of preparation for consumption, such as drying, dosing, or packaging, defeats the defense, and the burden of showing the decorative purpose rests with the grower.
What Could Change
Two developments are worth tracking, though neither changes current law.
In 2025, the Louisiana Senate passed Resolution No. 186, creating the Task Force on Alternative Therapies for Veterans. The resolution directed the task force to study whether psilocybin, MDMA, and ibogaine could help Louisiana veterans with PTSD, depression, and related conditions, and to deliver recommendations by February 1, 2026.8Louisiana State Legislature. Senate Resolution No. 186 – Task Force on Alternative Therapies for Veterans
In early 2026, Senate Bill 43 was introduced to create a Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Program within the Louisiana Department of Health. The bill would support clinical studies using psilocybin and ibogaine for opioid use disorder, co-occurring substance use disorders, and treatment-resistant mental health conditions, with studies operating under an FDA investigational new drug application and a DEA Schedule I research registration.9Louisiana State Legislature. Senate Bill No. 43 – Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy ProgramSB43 – 2026 Regular Session Even if enacted, it would not legalize personal possession or use. It is a research pathway, not a decriminalization measure.
Until that changes, Louisiana treats every form of psilocybin mushroom, and several other hallucinogenic fungi, as a felony controlled substance.