1. What the law is
Six California cities have told their police to treat psilocybin as a low enforcement priority. They are Oakland (2019), Santa Cruz (2020), Arcata (2021), San Francisco (2022), Berkeley and Eureka (2023). A city resolution is not a defense in a state prosecution. SB 58 would have gone statewide and Governor Newsom vetoed it in October 2023. AB 1103, signed in October 2025, lets the state Research Advisory Panel fast-track its review of research using Schedule I and Schedule II drugs, psilocybin included, until January 1, 2028.
The reform California came closest to enacting was Senate Bill 58, which would have decriminalized possession of psilocybin, DMT and mescaline. It passed both chambers of the state legislature in 2023, and Governor Newsom vetoed it that October, saying he supported a therapeutic framework but not broad decriminalization without a regulated system behind it. What has moved instead is local: six city councils have told their police to treat enforcement against entheogenic plants and fungi as a low priority, in Oakland in 2019, Santa Cruz in 2020, Arcata in 2021, San Francisco in 2022, and Berkeley and Eureka in 2023. None of that changes state law, which still prohibits psilocybin, and a council resolution is not a defense in a state prosecution. What California has enacted since is narrower than either: Assembly Bill 1103, signed on October 10, 2025 as Chapter 571, lets the state Research Advisory Panel expedite its review of research projects using Schedule I or Schedule II substances, psilocybin among them, until January 1, 2028.
California's trajectory has run from local deprioritization to state-level legislative attempts, with the governor as the gatekeeper: Newsom's veto message called for a therapeutic model rather than decriminalization. The 2026 session carried two measures naming psilocybin. Senate Bill 1224, the Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, would fund federally registered clinical trials through a state research partnership; it was held in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on August 13, 2026. Assembly Bill 2489 would expedite state approval of controlled-substance clinical trials; it was held in the same suspense file on May 14, 2026. Neither has become law, and state law still prohibits psilocybin.
2. Trials in California
Interventional psilocybin trials with at least one site in California, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NCT07386730 | A Study of Psychedelics in Healthy Older Adults With Low Well-being (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University of California San Francisco, Sandler Neuroscience Building, San Francisco | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor Jennifer Mitchell | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT07516405 | Safety and Tolerability Trial of Psilocybin in Healthy Older Adults (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Neurology, San Francisco | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University of Colorado, Denver | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT07281352 | RCT of Psilocybin-assisted CBT for Depression (opens in new tab)Recruiting at UCLA Semel Institute, Los Angeles | Phase Phase 1/2 | Sponsor University of California, Los Angeles | 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 Glendale, Los Angeles, Orange | Phase Phase 3 | Sponsor Cybin IRL Limited | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06367738 | Investigating the Persisting Effects of a Single Dose of Psilocybin on Structural Plasticity in Healthy Older Adults (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University of California, Berkeley | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University of California, Berkeley | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06233344 | Mindfulness-Assisted Psychedelic Therapy (opens in new tab)Recruiting at Univeristy of Southern California Brain and Creativity Institute, Los Angeles | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor University of Southern California | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT05403086 | Pragmatic Trial of Psilocybin Therapy in Palliative Care (opens in new tab)Recruiting in Greenbrae, Los Angeles, San Francisco | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor Charles S. Grob, M.D. | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06814522 | Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy for Physician Well-Being and Burnout (opens in new tab)Recruiting at UC San Diego, San Diego | Phase Phase 1/2 | Sponsor University of California, San Diego | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06399263 | Study of Psilocybin for Anorexia in Young Adults (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University of California, San Francisco | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor Marissa Raymond-Flesch, MD, MPH | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06626139 | Investigating the Interaction of Psilocybin and Context of Its Administration in Healthy Volunteers (opens in new tab)Recruiting at UCSF Mission Bay, San Francisco | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, MA | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT06455293 | Psilocybin Therapy for Depression in Parkinson's Disease (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University of California, San Francisco | Phase Phase 2 | Sponsor Joshua Woolley, MD, PhD | Status Recruiting | Start date |
| NCT05265546 | Investigating the Mechanisms of the Effects of Psilocybin on Visual Perception and Visual Representations in the Brain (opens in new tab)Recruiting at University of California, Berkeley | Phase Phase 1 | Sponsor University of California, Berkeley | Status Recruiting | Start date |
ClinicalTrials.gov data courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
28 more trials on file for California.
The register lists all 40 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.
Oakland City Council deprioritized enforcement against natural psychedelics (Resolution 87657).
Decriminalized status takes effect.
Santa Cruz City Council passed similar deprioritization resolution.
Arcata City Council adopted Resolution 212-17, deprioritizing enforcement against entheogenic plants and fungi.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed deprioritization resolution.
SB 58 (Wiener) passed both state legislature chambers.
Berkeley City Council adopted a resolution deprioritizing enforcement for personal use and cultivation of entheogenic plants and fungi.
Governor Newsom vetoed SB 58, called for therapeutic framework instead.
Eureka City Council adopted a deprioritization resolution, the sixth California city to do so.
AB 1103 signed as Chapter 571, Statutes of 2025, letting the Research Advisory Panel expedite review of Schedule I and Schedule II research projects until January 1, 2028.
SB 1224 and AB 2489, both naming psilocybin, were held in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file.
4. Proposed laws
Proposals that are not yet law and would change this entry if adopted.
SB 1224 (2026), the Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, authored by Jones, Becker and Wiener, names psilocybin in Section 11730.5(c) among the emerging therapies a state research partnership fund would support in federally registered clinical trials. The fund would be administered by the Department of Health Care Services with CalVet, would make University of California anchor-institution grants and would bid for federal ARPA-H money, with a veterans focus. It was held in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on Aug 13, 2026. AB 2489 (2026) would expedite state approval of controlled-substance clinical trials, psilocybin included; it passed Assembly Health 16-0 on Apr 7, 2026 and was held under submission in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on May 14, 2026.
5. Common questions
Is psilocybin legal in California?
Psilocybin is decriminalized in California. City level only; illegal under state law.
Are magic mushrooms ("shrooms") legal in California?
"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 California. City level only; illegal under state law.
Read the law
City resolutions: Oakland (2019), Santa Cruz (2020), Arcata (2021), San Francisco (2022), Berkeley (2023), Eureka (2023). Statewide: SB 58 vetoed (Oct 2023). AB 1103 / Chapter 571, Statutes of 2025, approved by the Governor October 10, 2025: requires the Research Advisory Panel to review research projects requiring the administration of Schedule I or Schedule II controlled substances, and authorizes the panel to expedite review of qualifying projects and to approve them through two or more deputized members without a full-panel vote. The act names neither psilocybin nor psychedelics; psilocybin is reached as a Schedule I substance. The expedited pathway, the deputized-reviewer mechanism and the panel's Bagley-Keene closed-session authority are authorized until January 1, 2028.1
Sources
This entry's status is checked against the primary sources below, and the methodology explains how each entry is graded for confidence.
- 1.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (opens in new tab) · leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
- 2.psychedelics.berkeley.edu (opens in new tab) · psychedelics.berkeley.edu
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.
California's 2025 research law is broader and shorter-lived than this entry said. AB 1103 speeds up state review of research using any Schedule I or Schedule II drug, psilocybin among them, rather than psychedelics specifically, and the fast-track expires on 1 January 2028.
California's record now lists SB 1224, the Emerging Therapies Research Partnership Act, which names psilocybin among the emerging therapies a state research fund would support in federally registered trials, with a veterans focus. The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file on 13 Aug 2026.
California's status was confirmed and its bill list updated: SB 751 was dead by May 2025, and AB 2489 was alive but held in the Assembly Appropriations suspense file in May 2026.
Psilocybin Media Group. "California: psilocybin legal status." The Psilocybin Record, accession US-CA-001, version of 23 Aug 2026. https://psilocybinlegalization.com/record/california