The Convention on Psychotropic Substances was done at Vienna on 21 February 1971 (UNODC, Convention text). The UN Treaty Collection records its entry into force on 16 August 1976 and lists 184 parties (UN Treaty Collection).
Schedule I of the treaty includes psilocybine and psilocine. For Schedule I substances, Article 7 asks parties to “prohibit all use except for scientific and very limited medical purposes by duly authorized persons” (UNODC, Convention text).
The treaty names compounds, not living things. In its 2010 annual report the International Narcotics Control Board wrote that, although some hallucinogenic ingredients of plants are controlled under the 1971 Convention, “no plants are currently controlled under that Convention”, and it gave magic mushrooms as an example (INCB Annual Report 2010). The Board recommended that governments consider national controls where needed. That is one reason national laws on whole mushrooms differ, as the Netherlands’ treatment of truffles shows.
General information, not legal advice.
Sources
- UNODC: Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971
- UN Treaty Collection: status of the 1971 Convention
- International Narcotics Control Board: Annual Report 2010
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