Compared to many other European countries, German law is quite strict on the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.
While you can legally embark on a fungus-fuelled psychedelic experience just over the border in the Netherlands, bringing any amount of the mushrooms purchased there back into Germany would be strictly against the law.
Furthermore, Germany has yet to decriminalise magic mushrooms like many of its neighbours to the south have done including Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic.
But while the German law is clear, there is still room for confusion – especially around certain products like grow-kits and edibles such as "mushroom chocolates" which can be ordered online, or in some cases, even found in stores in Germany.
So here's the German law on psilocybin mushroom use.
Can you take magic mushrooms in Germany?
Not legally.
Psilocybin and psilocin, the active compounds in magic mushrooms, are included among the Annex I substances in Germany's Narcotics Act (BtMG). In other words, magic mushrooms are considered illegal narcotics in Germany.
Therefore the possession or cultivation of magic mushrooms is punishable under criminal law.
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Punishments range from a fine (for small amounts) up to five years imprisonment in extreme cases.
However, according to an article by the law firm Louis & Michaelis, criminal cases involving personal consumption of magic mushrooms are often seen as unusual and trivial by prosecutors, and can typically be settled out of court with a fine.
According to the law firm, a quantity of 1.7 grams of pure psilocybin (which corresponds to about 120 regular doses of mushrooms) would be considered more than an "insignificant amount" and could be expected to meet a harsher punishment.
What about grow kits?
Grow kits are products designed to make it easy for people to grow mushrooms at home.
Similar to grow kits for legal, edible mushrooms like oyster or lion's mane mushrooms, it's possible to purchase psychedelic mushroom grow kits online from some retailers.
Reading through related threads on social media websites, you may come across mixed information about the legality of growing mushrooms in Germany.
The reality is that any part of a mushroom species that produce psilocybin and psilocin are illegal to purchase, sell or posses in Germany, including mushroom spores and grow kits that have yet to produce mushrooms.
German authorities amended the rules which regulate psychoactive substances in 1993, which effectively patched the grow-kit loophole that had existed previously.
What if you bring mushrooms from the Netherlands?
In the Netherlands it is possible to legally buy psilocybin mushrooms at certain shops, as well as grow kits and related products.
However bringing any of these products over the border into Germany is strictly verboten.
German customs authorities regularly seize psilocybin mushrooms in cars or from passengers on trains coming from the Netherlands.
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The penalty for importing a small amount of mushrooms is generally the same as possession. As mentioned above, with the help of a lawyer you might expect to settle out of court by paying a fine.
What about edible products for sale in Germany?
A recent trend among psychedelic mushroom seekers are "mushroom chocolates" and similar products, which can be found online or sometimes made available discreetly in certain stores in Berlin or other cities.
Information about these products and their availability can be hard to verify as posts and webpages are often taken down. Comments on this now deleted Reddit thread show people conversing about the availability of mushroom chocolates as shops appear to pop-up and then close up in various places.
But since these products tend to exist on the black market it's not really possible as a consumer to check their quality. As one commenter points out: "There's no way to tell if there's even shrooms in there let alone how strong it is without trying it..."
As far as the law is concerned, these products are either illegal or they don't contain psilocybin. Some "mushroom chocolate" products may contain active ingredients beside psilocybin (such as synthetic substances that have not yet been classified as illegal).
This makes the purchase of these products somewhat risky as it's hard to know exactly what you're getting.
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