Amanita muscaria is banned in the Netherlands, restricted in Louisiana and, as a food ingredient, rejected by the US Food and Drug Administration. In the United Kingdom, selling it for consumption falls under the Psychoactive Substances Act. In much of the rest of the world it is not named in drug laws at all, which is not the same as being approved or safe. Everything below was checked on 10 October 2026. Laws change, so check the source for your own country before relying on it.
Overview
| Country | Status of fly agaric and muscimol | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | On List II of the Opium Act since 1 December 2008 | Staatsblad 2008, 486 |
| United States (federal) | Not a controlled substance; not allowed as a food ingredient | FDA, 18 December 2024 |
| Louisiana | Amanita muscaria named in state law; decorative use excepted | Act 159 of 2005, R.S. 40:989.1 |
| United Kingdom | Not under the Misuse of Drugs Act; supply for consumption is an offence | Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 |
| Germany | Not listed in the narcotics law; official warning about muscimol products | BtMG annexes; BfR 2025 |
| France | Draft decision to list muscimol and ibotenic acid, notified to the EU in June 2026 | EU TRIS notification |
Netherlands
The Netherlands placed the fly agaric and the panther cap on List II of the Opium Act together with psilocybin mushrooms, by a decree of 17 November 2008 that took effect on 1 December 2008. The list names them under a separate heading: mushrooms that naturally contain muscimol and ibotenic acid, Amanita muscaria (vliegenzwam) and Amanita pantherina (panteramaniet). Selling, possessing, transporting and growing them is therefore prohibited, as with other List II substances.
The explanatory note is candid: no formal risk assessment had been done, but the government included the fly agaric because it is poisonous and was being offered as an alternative to banned magic mushrooms (Staatsblad 2008, 486). The current version of the list, in force since 17 September 2026, still contains both species (Opium Act on wetten.overheid.nl).
For visitors to the Netherlands this means: the legal status of magic truffles in Dutch smartshops says nothing about fly agaric. It is not sold legally there.
United States
Neither the fly agaric nor muscimol or ibotenic acid appears in the federal Controlled Substances Act. That gap allowed a market of "Amanita" gummies, chocolates and tinctures to grow. On 18 December 2024 the FDA stated that Amanita muscaria and its constituents do not meet the "generally recognized as safe" standard and are unapproved food additives, and that their use in food may be harmful (FDA). Food and dietary supplements containing it are therefore not lawfully on the market, even though possession is not a federal crime.
Louisiana is the clearest state exception. Act 159 of 2005 created R.S. 40:989.1, which makes it unlawful to produce, distribute or possess material intended for human consumption that contains one of a list of hallucinogenic plants, Amanita muscaria among them. Growing or keeping such plants strictly for "aesthetic, landscaping, or decorative purposes" is excepted (Act 159, Louisiana Legislature). State law can change quickly; check the current law in your own state.
United Kingdom
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 covers "fungus (of any kind) which contains psilocin" but does not name muscimol, ibotenic acid or the fly agaric. The Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 does apply: it is an offence to produce, supply, offer to supply, import or export a substance capable of producing a psychoactive effect for human consumption. Simple possession is only an offence inside a prison or other custodial institution (Psychoactive Substances Act 2016). How the Act applies to a specific product is ultimately decided by the courts.
Germany
Muscimol, ibotenic acid and the fly agaric are not listed in annexes I to III of the Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz), checked on 10 October 2026 (BtMG Annex I). That does not make muscimol products acceptable food. In June 2025 the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment warned about muscimol "fruit gums" sold online after poison centres recorded cases of coma, confusion and agitation (BfR).
France
On 16 June 2026 France notified the European Commission of a draft decision to add muscimol and ibotenic acid, the active compounds of the fly agaric, to its list of psychotropic substances (EU notification). We could not confirm whether the decision has been adopted. Expect fly agaric products in France to be restricted, and check the current French list.
Other countries
Online tables of Amanita law by country often cite no source or are out of date. We only list countries where we could check the primary text. Australia is frequently said to list muscimol in Schedule 9 of its Poisons Standard; we could not confirm that from the official text, so it is not in the table above.
What legal status does not tell you
A mushroom or product that no law names can still be poisonous. The effects page shows what poison centres see, and the look-alikes page explains why wild Amanita species are the most dangerous mushrooms to get wrong. This site does not sell or link to fly agaric products, and the shop that publishes it does not sell them either.
Updated