Are Magic Mushrooms Legal in Amsterdam? Truffles vs Mushrooms

Are magic mushrooms legal in Amsterdam?

Magic mushrooms are illegal in Amsterdam, because the Dutch Opium Act bans them nationwide and Amsterdam has no separate rule.

The ban sits in List II of the Opiumwet, under the entry “Paddo’s”. Part A of that entry covers “paddenstoelen die van nature de stof psilocine of psilocybine bevatten”, which means mushrooms that naturally contain psilocin or psilocybin. The same entry also lists the fly agaric and panther cap in part B. The wording does not separate fresh from dried and does not exempt a species by its common name.

The Wettenbank shows the entry in the version valid from 2008-12-01. The version valid until 2008-11-30 does not contain it. The current text, valid from 2026-09-17, still carries the entry (checked 2026-10-26).

Are magic truffles legal in the Netherlands?

Magic truffles are legal in the Netherlands because the Opium Act does not list them, and the health ministry says it left them out on purpose.

A truffle here is a sclerotium, a hardened underground mass of the same type of fungus. The List II entry names mushrooms (paddenstoelen). The current text has no word for sclerotia or truffles. In January 2021, the ministry’s communications director told DutchNews.nl that mushrooms vary unpredictably in strength, that the same cannot be said of truffles, and that they “were not included in the Opium Act amendment in 2008”. The ministry said it stands by this position.

The legal position rests on what the Opium Act does not name, and no statute needs to permit what no statute bans. No enacted change or bill to add sclerotia to a list exists as of 2026-10-26. An amendment would change this page, and the date on it tells you when it was last checked.

Is psilocybin legal in the Netherlands?

Psilocybin as a pure substance is illegal in the Netherlands, because psilocin and psilocybin are on List I of the Opium Act, the stricter list.

The Dutch rules therefore treat the same compound in three ways. The table shows each form, the list it is on, and the penalty for intentional offences as written in the Opiumwet on 2026-10-26.

Form	Opium Act list	Status as of 2026-10-26	Intentional offences, as written
Fresh or dried mushrooms	List II, entry “Paddo’s”, in force 2008-12-01	Banned	Up to 2 years or a category 5 fine (article 11(2)); professional or business activities covered by article 3(B), including sale, carry up to 6 years (article 11(3))
Truffles (sclerotia)	Not listed	No Opium Act offence; sold in smartshops	None under the Opium Act
Pure psilocybin or psilocin	List I	Banned	Up to 6 years for possession and up to 8 years for sale or production (article 10(3), 10(4))

Article 11 has a carve-out. Paragraphs 2 and 4 do not apply to “een geringe hoeveelheid, bestemd voor eigen gebruik”, a small quantity for personal use, of List II substances other than hemp and hashish. That carve-out does not apply to List I.

What prosecutors do with mushrooms

The Public Prosecution Service publishes a prosecution guideline for the Opium Act with quantity bands for mushrooms. For a first offender, the lowest band is up to 0.5 g dried or up to 5 g fresh: a small quantity for personal use, handled by surrender and withdrawal from circulation. The next band, 0.5 to 30 g dried or 5 to 300 g fresh, draws a €250 fine, and 30 to 1,000 g dried or 300 g to 10 kg fresh draws €1,000. Community service and prison start at kilogram quantities. The bands guide prosecutors. They do not replace the statutory maxima in the table.

Where do smartshops fit in?

Smartshops sell truffles, not mushrooms, and the shops set 18 as the minimum age.

Dutch-Smart.nl says that “truffles are legally available, but magic mushrooms are not” and that truffles “are not included in the ban on mushrooms that has been in effect since 2008”. It also says you must be at least 18 years old to order. Novus Fumus states it does not sell to anyone under 18. That age is shop policy, not a figure in the Opium Act.

Both shops put the law at home on the buyer. Dutch-Smart.nl writes that “products that are legal in the Netherlands may be prohibited in your country”, and Novus Fumus advises checking local customs law because enforcement varies.

Can you take magic truffles home from Amsterdam?

Whether you can take truffles home depends on the destination country’s law, not on the Dutch Opium Act, and the UK and US wording is broad.

Dutch law does not control what other countries allow in. Article 3 of the Opiumwet bans bringing List II substances “binnen of buiten het grondgebied van Nederland”, in or out of Dutch territory. Mushrooms are on List II, so carrying them out of the country is a second offence on top of possession. Truffles are on no list, so that article does not name them. The other country’s border law applies the moment you arrive there.

Destination	What the law says	What it means for a traveler
United Kingdom	GOV.UK lists magic mushrooms as Class A: up to 7 years for possession, up to life for supply and production.	The page does not name truffles, and a Class A listing for the fungus is the risk you carry home.
United States	Schedule I covers “any material, compound, mixture, or preparation, which contains any quantity” of psilocybin or psilocyn (21 CFR 1308.11(d)). Importing a Schedule I substance is unlawful under 21 U.S.C. 952(a).	The text reaches any material that contains psilocybin, with no truffle exception.
Other EU countries	No single EU rule exists.	Each country applies its own drug law, so check the destination.

A smartshop’s “legal in the Netherlands” label does not protect you at a foreign border. Use truffles in the Netherlands and leave the rest behind.

What about the health risks?

Psilocybin truffles contain the same compound as the banned mushrooms.

The Dutch health ministry gave unpredictable strength as its reason for listing mushrooms and said truffles do not have that problem (DutchNews.nl, 2021-01-04). For a life-threatening emergency in the Netherlands, call 112.

Elsewhere, see how the rules work in California and Florida, whether spores are legal, and how the Netherlands treats MDMA. The psychedelic legal-status guides cover the rest as they are published.

What changed in 2008, and could it change again?

The Dutch government added mushrooms to List II effective 2008-12-01, and it has not added truffles since.

The Wettenbank shows the entry with its effective date. The ministry’s 2021 statement says the gap is intended and defended. Article 3a(2) allows the government to add substances to List I or List II by order in council (algemene maatregel van bestuur) when they affect consciousness and their use can harm human health and society. As of 2026-10-26, no such order covers truffles.