Amanita muscaria in Nevada: legal status and why it isn't psilocybin

Is Amanita muscaria legal in Nevada?

It isn't a controlled substance, but that doesn't make it legal to sell as food. Neither Amanita muscaria nor its main compounds, muscimol and ibotenic acid, appear on the federal Schedule I list or anywhere in Nevada's controlled-substance regulations.¹² On December 18, 2024, FDA said Amanita muscaria, its extracts, muscimol, ibotenic acid and muscarine "are not authorized for use as ingredients in conventional food."⁵

FDA concluded that Amanita and these compounds "do not meet the safety standard for use in food," called them unapproved food additives, and recommended that people avoid eating foods that contain them. In the same notice it said it was also evaluating their use in dietary supplements.⁵ Virginia toxicologists writing in CDC's MMWR in 2024 noted that, unlike psilocybin mushrooms, "A. muscaria is currently legal," while warning that products sold as Amanita have contained Schedule I drugs.⁷

A local rule may also reach some of the stores that sell it. In unincorporated Clark County, outside the limits of its cities, a hemp-store ordinance approved 6-0 on March 17, 2026, and in force from July 15, 2026 under its signed text, bars hemp retail stores from selling "any products that are intended to cause an intoxicating, narcotic, and/or hallucinogenic effect."⁴ It doesn't name Amanita, but its text appears to reach Amanita gummies sold in those stores; we found no report on how it's being enforced.

Why Amanita muscaria isn't a magic mushroom

"Magic mushrooms" contain psilocybin, which the body converts to psilocin. Psilocin activates serotonin receptors, mainly the 5-HT2A receptor, and researchers think that action is responsible for much of the psychedelic experience.⁹ Amanita muscaria works through different chemistry.⁸⁷

So the effects, the risks and the legal status all differ. Psilocybin and psilocin are Schedule I in Nevada and federally; muscimol and ibotenic acid aren't.²¹ The Virginia report notes that A. muscaria is used as a hallucinogen less often than psilocybin mushrooms "because A. muscaria can cause undesired symptoms, including gastrointestinal upset, agitation, and seizures."⁷

Is Amanita muscaria poisonous?

It can be. FDA points out that its "Bad Bug Book," released in 2012, identifies A. muscaria and its constituents "as toxic agents that cause poisoning following ingestion."⁵ Two case reports in CDC's MMWR show what that looks like:

• Minnesota, 2018. A man who ate wild mushrooms that investigators traced to a variety of A. muscaria arrived at an emergency department with altered mental status, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, swelling of the lip and tongue and heavy salivation, starting about 2 to 3 hours after eating them. He needed a breathing tube and mechanical ventilation for 4 days and went home 8 days after admission; his daughter, who also ate them, had milder symptoms.⁸
• Virginia, 2023 to 2024. Four adults who ate gummies labeled as Amanita were evaluated in emergency departments with a racing heart, confusion, anxiety or sleepiness, and nausea; one reported chest pain. All four went home within 12 hours. A 3-year-old who ate the gummies by accident was hospitalized with sleepiness and vomiting and discharged the next day.⁷

Amanita gummies and "legal psychedelics" in Las Vegas shops

FDA said foods made with Amanita and its compounds are sometimes marketed as "psychedelic edibles," "legal psychedelics" or "mushroom edibles," and some look like ordinary candy bars. It acted after adverse event reports, news reports and questions from state and local regulators.⁵

The labels haven't held up. The recalled Diamond Shruumz products, which were linked to illnesses in 34 states including 2 cases in Nevada, contained muscimol in some samples, but FDA also found a psilocin relative (4-AcO-DMT), psilocin, the prescription drug pregabalin and kava compounds, and said muscimol "cannot explain all the symptoms reported."⁶ In Virginia, gummies labeled as Amanita contained psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, kratom or ephedrine.⁷ A product that contains psilocin holds a Schedule I drug in Nevada whatever its label says, and possessing one is a felony under NRS 453.336.²³

Our guides to mushroom gummies and chocolate and to Las Vegas mushroom shops cover what testing found in these products and where they're sold. For the penalties that apply to psilocybin itself, see Nevada psilocybin law.

What to do if someone has eaten Amanita muscaria

Call 911 for a seizure, trouble breathing, chest pain, or anyone who can't be woken. Otherwise call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222; Nevada calls go to the Nevada Poison Center, run by Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety.¹⁰ The Virginia report in CDC's MMWR advises anyone who has symptoms after eating these products to "seek immediate medical attention."⁷ Keep the package or a photo of the mushroom so responders know what was eaten. For a frightening experience that isn't a medical emergency, the Fireside Project's peer support line takes calls and texts at 62-FIRESIDE (623-473-7433), every day from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific.¹¹ Our help page lists every local line.