06The law
Is Mazatapec legal? The Netherlands, the UK, Germany and the US
Checked against the legal texts, 10 October 2026
Updated
Mazatapec mushrooms are illegal in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and under US federal law, because they contain psilocybin and psilocin. The cultivar name changes nothing. What differs is the status of the grow kit: in the Netherlands you can buy one legally, but the mushrooms are illegal as soon as they appear. This page was checked against the sources on 10 October 2026 and is general information, not legal advice.
At a glance
| Country | The mushrooms | Grow kit and spores | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | illegal, Opium Act List II | kit legal to buy; illegal once mushrooms appear | fresh mushrooms since 1 December 2008 |
| United Kingdom | illegal, Class A, fresh or prepared | no explicit rule found; producing mushrooms is an offence | 18 July 2005 |
| Germany | illegal, Narcotics Act (BtMG) Annex I | covered when intended for intoxication | Annex I |
| United States | illegal under federal law, Schedule I | spores without psilocybin not federally controlled; some states stricter | federal schedule |
The Netherlands
Mushrooms that naturally contain psilocin or psilocybin are on List II of the Opium Act, and the list names Psilocybe cubensis explicitly (Opium Act). Mazatapec is a cubensis cultivar, so it is covered. The pure substances psilocybin and psilocin are on List I. According to the Trimbos Institute, dried mushrooms have been prohibited since 2002 and fresh ones since 2008 (drugsinfo.nl); the Jellinek adds that dried mushrooms count as List I (Jellinek).
The grow kit is a different matter. The Trimbos Institute states that containers for growing psychedelic mushrooms can still be bought legally, because you are not buying mushrooms, and that the mushrooms are illegal as soon as they come up. So buying a Mazatapec kit in the Netherlands is legal; letting it fruit is not.
The Public Prosecution Service regards 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 it (OM, Aanwijzing Opiumwet). That is a prosecution guideline. It does not make possession legal.
Visitors sometimes confuse mushrooms with magic truffles. Truffles are sclerotia, an underground part of certain fungi, and according to the Trimbos Institute they are not named in the Opium Act and are sold legally in smartshops. Mazatapec is a mushroom cultivar, and no Mazatapec truffle exists.
The United Kingdom
Section 21 of the Drugs Act 2005 placed "fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin or an ester of psilocin" in Class A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, with effect from 18 July 2005 (legislation.gov.uk). The Home Office's explanatory memorandum says it is an offence to import, export, produce, supply or possess such mushrooms whatever form they are in, prepared or fresh.
We found no statute or official guidance that deals directly with spores or colonised grow kits. A kit that produces mushrooms produces a Class A drug, and production is an offence. Ordering a Mazatapec kit from the Netherlands to the UK is not something this site recommends.
Germany
Psilocin and psilocybin are in Annex I of the Narcotics Act, the category of substances that may not be traded or prescribed (BtMG, Annex I). The same annex covers fungi and parts of fungi that contain them, and biological material suitable for reproducing them, when misuse for intoxication is intended. Spores and mycelium sold to grow Mazatapec fall under that wording.
The United States
Psilocybin and psilocyn are Schedule I hallucinogens under federal law (21 CFR 1308.11). Laboratory analysis found no psilocybin or related tryptamines in cubensis spores (Gotvaldová et al., 2021), and in a letter of January 2024 the Drug Enforcement Administration confirmed that spores without psilocybin or psilocin are not federally controlled. Once germinated material contains those substances, it is. That is why Mazatapec spores are sold openly in many US states "for microscopy", while growing them is illegal under federal law.
State law varies. 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 a controlled substance. 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). Such programmes do not change federal law and do not allow home cultivation.
Ordering from the Netherlands
Dutch shops ship grow kits abroad, but the law that applies is the law of the country where the kit is delivered and grown, including its import rules. A kit that is legal to sell in the Netherlands does not become legal in the UK or Germany by being shipped there. This site does not recommend ordering, importing or growing where it is against the law. The kit guide and the kits below are meant for readers in the Netherlands, where buying a kit is legal.
Does the origin in Mexico matter?
No. The claimed Mexican origin has no legal meaning in any of these four countries. Every law above is written around the substances, psilocybin and psilocin, or around the species, not around cultivar names. The origin page explains what is known about where Mazatapec comes from.