Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed a wide-ranging agriculture bill passed by the legislature that contains, among other provisions, a new prohibition on the spores of psychedelic mushrooms.
The governor, who previously signaled that he would approve the anti-psilocybin legislation, SB 700 from Sen. Keith Truenow (R), formally did so on Thursday.
The psychedelic mushroom spore ban is just one provision of the roughly 150-page agriculture bill, which also contains a new ban on local governments from adding fluoride to public drinking water—an issue that dominated debate as the proposal made its way through the legislature.
With respect to psychedelic mushrooms, the new law outlaws transporting, importing, selling or giving away “spores or mycelium capable of producing mushrooms or other material which will contain a controlled substance, including psilocybin or psilocyn, during its lifecycle.”
Violating the proposed law will be a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying a maximum one year in jail and $1,000 fine.
SB 700 will also make a variety of adjustments around Florida’s agricultural lands, utilities and wildlife management.
Psilocybin and psilocin are the two main psychoactive compounds in psychedelic mushrooms. Although spores themselves typically do not contain psilocybin or psilocin, they eventually produce fruiting bodies—mushrooms—that do contain the psychedelic compounds.
Because the spores don’t contain any controlled substances, the federal government deems them legal.
“If the mushroom spores (or any other material) do not contain psilocybin or psilocin (or any other controlled substance or listed chemical), the material is considered not controlled,” Terrence Boos, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Drug and Chemical Evaluation Section chief, said in a memo last year.
marijuanamoment.net