1. What the law is
Access in Switzerland is granted one decision at a time. The Federal Office of Public Health issues exceptional authorizations for limited medical use of otherwise prohibited narcotics under article 8 paragraph 5 of the Narcotics Act, and psilocybin joined the program in 2021. In 2024 the Office issued 686 of them, 322 for psilocybin, and just under 100 physicians held them at the end of that year; roughly 1,660 treatments were carried out in 2024, about 720 of them with psilocybin. Read those figures carefully. An authorization normally runs twelve months, covers several treatments and includes continuations of an existing therapy, so it counts permissions rather than patients. No psilocybin medicine holds Swiss marketing authorization, and the route is a compassionate one rather than an approved therapy.
2. Trials in Switzerland
Interventional psilocybin trials with at least one site in Switzerland, 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 Closed counts trials terminated, suspended, withdrawn or left unverified by their sponsors.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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT06796361 | Role of the Serotonin 2A Receptor in Psilocybin-induced Altered States of Consciousness (opens in new tab)Recruiting at Clinical Trial Unit, Basel | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06899334 | Direct Comparison of Altered States of Consciousness Induced by LSD, Psilocybin, and DMT in Healthy Participants (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University Hospital, Basel | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT07345858 | Salivary Oxytocin as a Biomarker of Psychedelic Treatment (opens in new tab)Site at Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva | Phase Not stated | Sponsor University of Geneva, Switzerland | Status Enrolling by invitation | Start date |
| NCT05570708 | The Role of Personal Experience for the Therapeutic Attitude in the Context of Substance-assisted Therapy Training (opens in new tab)Site at University Hospital Basel, Basel | Phase Not applicable | Sponsor Felix Mueller | Status Enrolling by invitation | Start date |
| NCT06884514 | Acute Effects of MDMA Co-administration on the Response to Psilocybin in Healthy Subjects (opens in new tab)Site at University Hospital Basel, Basel | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT06081179 | Does Serotonin System Stimulation Increase Pro-social Behavior? - A Comparative Pharmacological Neuroscientific Study in Healthy Humans (opens in new tab)Site at Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, Zurich | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University of Zurich | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT05523401 | Acute Effects of 2C-B Compared With MDMA and Psilocybin in Healthy Subjects (opens in new tab)Site at University Hospital Basel, Basel | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT03853577 | Characterization of Altered Waking States of Consciousness in Healthy Humans (opens in new tab)Site at Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, Zurich | Phase Not applicable | Sponsor University of Zurich | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT04141501 | Clinical and Mechanistic Effects of Psilocybin in Alcohol Addicted Patients (opens in new tab)Site at Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, Zurich | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor University of Zurich | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT07164287 | Retrospective Observational Study of Intensity Effects in Psychedelic-assisted Treatment (opens in new tab)Site at Geneva University Hospital, Geneva | Phase Not stated | Sponsor University Hospital, Geneva | Status Active, not recruiting | Start date |
| NCT04227756 | Comparative Acute Effects of LSD, Psilocybin and Mescaline (opens in new tab)Site at University Hospital Basel, Clinical Trial Unit, Basel | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland | Status Completed | Start date |
| NCT03912974 | Effects of SERT Inhibition on the Subjective Response to Psilocybin in Healthy Subjects (opens in new tab)Site at University Hospital Basel, Clinical Trial Unit, Basel | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland | Status Completed | Start date |
ClinicalTrials.gov data courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
2 more trials on file for Switzerland.
The register lists all 14 and filters them by condition, status and phase.
3. History
The legal events behind this entry, dated and oldest first. Our own reviews and corrections are listed under Changes to this record.
Medical use status takes effect.
4. Proposed laws
Proposals that are not yet law and would change this entry if adopted.
Ongoing policy discussion on insurance reimbursement and on certified proficiency requirements for prescribing physicians, recorded in the peer-reviewed July 2025 program review.
5. Common questions
Is psilocybin legal in Switzerland?
Psilocybin is legal for medical use in Switzerland.
Are magic mushrooms ("shrooms") legal in Switzerland?
"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 legal for medical use in Switzerland.
Read the law
Federal Act on Narcotics (BetmG, SR 812.121) Art. 8(5): FOPH/BAG exceptional licenses for limited medical use of prohibited narcotics (psilocybin available since 2021). Art. 19b: personal consumption of negligible quantities not punishable. Psilocybin sits inside the class that Art. 8(5) governs by way of the EDI ordinance on the schedules of narcotics and psychotropic substances (BetmVV-EDI, SR 812.121.11, consolidation of 13 March 2026), which lists Psilocybin and Psilocin in Verzeichnis d, and separately lists hallucinogenic mushrooms of the genera Conocybe, Panaeolus, Psilocybe and Stropharia.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.bag.admin.ch (opens in new tab) · bag.admin.ch
- 2.bag.admin.ch (opens in new tab) · bag.admin.ch
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.
Switzerland's entry now cites the schedule that actually names psilocybin, rather than resting only on the Narcotics Act article, which does not. Nothing about the law itself has changed.
Switzerland's entry now reports 686 exceptional authorisations for 2024, 322 of them for psilocybin, citing the Federal Office of Public Health's own figures. It no longer describes these as patients: an authorisation runs about twelve months, covers several treatments and includes continuations of an existing therapy.
Switzerland's entry now rests on the Federal Office of Public Health's own page rather than a law firm article, and the 2024 program figures are brought up to date. The status is unchanged.
Psilocybin Media Group. "Switzerland: psilocybin legal status." The Psilocybin Record, accession CH-001, version of 23 Aug 2026. https://psilocybinlegalization.com/record/switzerland