1. What the law is
Governor Inslee signed the psilocybin pilot and vetoed its machinery. What survived 2SSB 5263 on May 9, 2023 is a University of Washington therapy services pilot for first responders and veterans; the psilocybin advisory board and the Department of Health's rulemaking authority did not. The pilot depends on an appropriation and may only offer services through pathways the FDA has approved. Statewide, psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I under RCW 69.50.204, and knowing possession is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 69.50.4013. Five local jurisdictions have made enforcement their lowest priority, Seattle and Port Townsend in 2021, Jefferson County in 2023, Olympia in 2024 and Tacoma in 2025, but those resolutions bind nobody and change no law.
Washington occupies a middle position among US states: psilocybin remains prohibited under state law, but the state has enacted a narrow clinical pathway and several of its local governments have formally stepped back from enforcement. The enacted track is SB 5263, signed by Governor Jay Inslee on May 9, 2023, which created a state psilocybin task force and authorized a psilocybin therapy pilot program at the University of Washington serving military veterans and first responders. The pilot does not legalize psilocybin for the general public; possession, cultivation, and sale outside the program remain prohibited statewide. The second track is local. Beginning with Seattle in October 2021, then the largest US city to deprioritize psilocybin enforcement, a succession of jurisdictions have adopted resolutions making entheogen-related investigations and arrests their lowest law-enforcement priority: Port Townsend (2021), Jefferson County (2023), Olympia (2024), and Tacoma (2025). These resolutions are policy statements rather than changes to criminal law; state statutes continue to apply within those jurisdictions. Together the two tracks define Washington's current posture: a tightly scoped clinical pilot at the state level, and spreading enforcement discretion at the local level.
Washington's approach contrasts with Oregon's next door, where voters approved a regulated psilocybin services program by ballot initiative in 2020. Washington's legislature has instead moved incrementally, from a task force and clinical pilot in 2023 toward broader access bills that have so far stalled. The most recent, SB 5921, the Washington Medical Psilocybin Act, cleared the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee on February 3, 2026, but stalled in Ways and Means past the fiscal cutoff and is dead for the 2026 session. Supporters would need to reintroduce the measure in 2027; in the near term, movement is more likely to continue through local deprioritization resolutions than through state law.
2. Trials in Washington
Interventional psilocybin trials with at least one site in Washington, as their sponsors filed them with ClinicalTrials.gov, EU CTIS and ISRCTN. Each row links to the registry record, which sets out who may take part.
Recruiting or opening counts trials recruiting now, not yet recruiting, or enrolling by invitation. Closed counts trials terminated, suspended, withdrawn or left unverified by their sponsors.
| Registry ID | Trial | Phase | Sponsor | Status | Start date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT07226232 | Psilocybin Intervention for Veterans Overcoming Treatment-Resistant Depression (opens in new tab)Recruiting at VA Puget Sound Health Care System Seattle Division, Seattle, WA | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor VA Office of Research and Development | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06793397 | A Study of a Deuterated Psilocin Analog (CYB003) in Humans With Major Depressive Disorder (opens in new tab)Recruiting in Everett and Seattle | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor Cybin IRL Limited | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT07336238 | Group Retreat Psilocybin Therapy for the Treatment of Anxiety and Depression in Patients With Metastatic Solid Tumors or Incurable Hematologic Malignancies (opens in new tab)Site at Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium, Seattle | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor University of Washington | Status Active, not recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06853912 | PsiloStudy: Psilocybin With Psychological Support (Psi-PS) for Military Veterans and First Responders With Co-occurring PTSD & Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) (opens in new tab)Site at University of Washington Center for Novel Therapeutics in Addiction Psychiatry, Seattle | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor Nathan Brashares Sackett | Status Active, not recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06644170 | A Second Psilocybin Group Therapy for the Treatment of Cancer-Related Anxiety in Partial Responders With Metastatic Cancer (opens in new tab)Site at Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium, Seattle | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University of Washington | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT06308653 | Psilocybin for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) (opens in new tab)Sites in Bellevue and Vancouver | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor Usona Institute | Status Active, not recruiting | Start date |
| NCT05847686 | Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for the Treatment of Cancer-Related Anxiety in Patients With Metastatic Cancer (opens in new tab)Site at Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium, Seattle | Phase Phase 1/2 | Sponsor University of Washington | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT05711940 | Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Two Administrations of COMP360 in Participants With TRD (opens in new tab)Site at Seattle Neuropsychiatric Treatment Center, Seattle | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor COMPASS Pathways | Status Active, not recruiting | Start date |
| NCT05624268 | Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of COMP360 in Participants With TRD (opens in new tab)Site at Core Clinical Research, Everett | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor COMPASS Pathways | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT04982796 | Psilocybin-Enhanced Psychotherapy for Methamphetamine Use Disorder (opens in new tab)Site at Portland VA Health Care System, Vancouver | Phase Phase 1/2 | Sponsor Portland VA Research Foundation, Inc | Status Active, not recruiting | Start date |
| NCT05163496 | Frontline Clinician Psilocybin Study (opens in new tab)Site at University of Washington, Seattle | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor University of Washington | Status Completed | Start date |
ClinicalTrials.gov data courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
3. History
The legal events behind this entry, dated and oldest first. Our own reviews and corrections are listed under Changes to this record.
Seattle City Council unanimously adopts Resolution 32021 (October 4), declaring entheogen-related investigations and arrests among the city's lowest enforcement priorities; Seattle was the largest US city to take this step at the time.
Port Townsend City Council unanimously adopts Resolution 21-088, making enforcement against entheogen-related activities a low priority for the city.
Jefferson County Board of Commissioners passes a resolution (May 1) deprioritizing county enforcement against entheogens.
Governor Jay Inslee signs SB 5263 (May 9), creating a state psilocybin task force and authorizing a University of Washington psilocybin therapy pilot for veterans and first responders.
Decriminalized status takes effect.
Olympia City Council unanimously adopts a resolution (August 13) making entheogen enforcement the city's lowest law-enforcement priority.
Tacoma City Council unanimously adopts a resolution (January 28) deprioritizing entheogen enforcement and expressing support for statewide decriminalization.
SB 5921, the Washington Medical Psilocybin Act, passes the Senate Health and Long-Term Care Committee (February 3) and is referred to Ways and Means (February 4), where it stalls past the fiscal cutoff; the bill is dead for the 2026 session.
4. Proposed laws
No proposed law is on file in Washington that would change this entry, as of the 21 Sep 2026 review.
5. Common questions
Is psilocybin legal in Washington?
Psilocybin is decriminalized in Washington. City level only; illegal under state law.
Are magic mushrooms ("shrooms") legal in Washington?
"Magic mushrooms" and "shrooms" are common names for fungi that contain psilocybin, and this entry states the law on psilocybin itself, which some laws treat separately from the fungus. Psilocybin is decriminalized in Washington. City level only; illegal under state law.
Read the law
2SSB 5263 (2023), chapter 364, Laws of 2023, partial veto: approved May 9, 2023 with sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11 and 13 vetoed; effective July 23, 2023. What survived: a Health Care Authority psilocybin task force that expired June 30, 2024, and a University of Washington psilocybin therapy services pilot program for first responders and veterans, subject to appropriation and limited to pathways approved by the FDA. City and county deprioritizations: Seattle (2021), Port Townsend (2021), Jefferson County (2023), Olympia (2024), Tacoma (2025).1
Sources
This entry's status is checked against the primary sources below, and the methodology explains how each entry is graded for confidence.
- 1.lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov (opens in new tab) · lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov
- 2.app.leg.wa.gov (opens in new tab) · app.leg.wa.gov
This entry is for information only and is not legal or medical advice. Laws change, and enforcement can differ from the letter of the law, so check the current position against the primary sources above before relying on it.
Changes to this record
3 changes on file, the latest on . Show allHide
Every change we have made to this record, dated, corrections included. Nothing changes silently.
Washington was checked again on 21 September 2026 and nothing has moved. The 2023 law behind the University of Washington pilot, and the state statutes that keep possession a gross misdemeanor, read as this entry says.
Washington's record now cites the 2023 session law itself. That act was a partial veto which struck the advisory board and the health department's rulemaking authority, and it took effect July 23, 2023.
Washington's status held. The medical program bill SB 5921 got further than earlier attempts and then died in the Ways and Means committee in February 2026.
Psilocybin Media Group. "Washington: psilocybin legal status." The Psilocybin Record, accession US-WA-001, version of 21 Sep 2026. https://psilocybinlegalization.com/record/washington