CH 07 The law Updated
Is Penis Envy legal? The Netherlands, UK, Germany and US
Legal status of Penis Envy and APE mushrooms, grow bags and spores in the Netherlands, the UK, Germany and the US, checked at the source on 10 October 2026.
- Netherlands, mushrooms
- Opium Act List II
- Netherlands, grow bag
- legal to buy
- United Kingdom
- Class A
- Checked
- 10 Oct 2026
Penis Envy mushrooms are illegal in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and under US federal law. The laws name the compounds psilocybin and psilocin, or fungi that contain them, and every Penis Envy contains both; the cultivar name, the albino form or a reputation for strength changes nothing. What differs per country is the status of the grow bag and of spores. Checked on 10 October 2026; this page is information, not legal advice.
Overview
| Country | Mushrooms, fresh or dried | Grow bag or kit | Spores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | prohibited, Opium Act List II, since 1 December 2008 | legal to buy; mushrooms illegal once they appear | no specific rule found |
| United Kingdom | Class A, since 18 July 2005 | no specific rule found; producing mushrooms is an offence | no specific rule found |
| Germany | Narcotics Act, Annex I | covered when intended for intoxication | covered when intended for intoxication |
| United States | Schedule I, federal | federal: controlled once it contains psilocybin | federal: not controlled without psilocybin; some states stricter |
The Netherlands
Since 1 December 2008, fresh mushrooms that contain psilocybin or psilocin are on List II of the Opium Act, and the list names Psilocybe cubensis among the species (Opium Act). Dried mushrooms were already prohibited before that. The Trimbos Institute summarises it as follows: magic mushrooms are on List II, both dried (since 2002) and fresh (since 2008) (drugsinfo.nl). The Jellinek, the Amsterdam addiction care organisation, states that dried mushrooms fall under List I (Jellinek). The sources differ on the list; they agree that dried mushrooms are prohibited.
For grow bags, the Trimbos Institute writes that containers for growing psychedelic mushrooms can still be bought legally in the Netherlands, because you are not buying mushrooms, and that the mushrooms are illegal as soon as they come up. That is the legal position of the APE bag sold by Dutch-Smart: legal to buy, while what grows from it falls under the Opium Act.
The Public Prosecution Service defines up to 5 grams of fresh or 0.5 grams of dried mushrooms as a user quantity and in principle does not prosecute possession below that (OM, Opium Act guideline). A prosecution guideline is not a permission.
Magic truffles are a separate case. They are sclerotia of other Psilocybe species, they are not named in the Opium Act and are sold legally in smartshops, according to the Trimbos Institute. Penis Envy is sold as a mushroom culture, and nothing sold as truffles is Penis Envy.
The United Kingdom
Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 added "Fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin or an ester of psilocin" to Class A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (legislation.gov.uk), in force from 18 July 2005. Fresh and prepared mushrooms are covered alike. We found no statute or Home Office guidance that deals directly with spores or colonised grow bags. A bag that fruits produces a Class A drug, and producing one is an offence.
Germany
Psilocin and psilocybin are in Annex I of the Narcotics Act (BtMG), the category that can be neither traded nor prescribed (BtMG, Annex I). The same entry covers fungi and parts of fungi that contain them, and biological material suitable for reproducing them, when misuse for intoxication is intended. A Penis Envy grow bag or spore syringe sent to Germany falls under that wording.
The United States
Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I hallucinogens under federal law (21 CFR 1308.11). A laboratory study found no psilocybin or related tryptamines in cubensis spores (Gotvaldová et al., 2021), and in a letter of January 2024, as reported in the trade press, the Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed that spores without psilocybin or psilocin are not federally controlled, while material that contains them is. That is why Penis Envy spores are sold "for microscopy" in many states.
Some states go further. California's Health and Safety Code, section 11390, makes it an offence to cultivate spores or mycelium capable of producing such mushrooms with intent to produce psilocybin. Oregon runs a licensed programme in which adults can take psilocybin at licensed service centres, created by Ballot Measure 109 in November 2020 (Oregon Health Authority). State programmes do not change federal law and do not make home cultivation legal.
Ordering from the Netherlands
A Dutch shop may ship abroad, but the law that applies is the law of the country of delivery, including its rules on importing. For readers in the UK, Germany or the US, a Penis Envy bag does not become legal because it was legal to sell in the Netherlands. This site does not recommend ordering, importing or growing anywhere it is against the law. The products shown here are meant for adults in the Netherlands.
Key terms
- Opium Act List II: the Dutch list for substances with a lower risk profile; psilocybin mushrooms are on it.
- Class A: the UK category with the heaviest penalties.
- Schedule I: the strictest US federal category.
- User quantity: the amount below which Dutch prosecutors in principle do not prosecute; it does not make possession legal.
