Holland’s psychedelic fungus dealers have a message for UK citizens: Buy our drugs.

“Customers of ours are being scared by your police and customs,” complained one supplier, who asked for his name to be withheld over email. “They are wrong. But no one dares to confront the authorities with their misunderstanding.”

While magic mushrooms have been illegal in the Netherlands since 2008, after a tragic accidental death soured the scene, their subterranean cousins, magic truffles, managed to escape the ban.

Despite the fact they’re the same species, contain the same psychoactive chemicals and have the same effect on the brain, they’re not technically “mushrooms”—which, as any mycology nerd will tell you, refers only to the part of the fungus you can see—and so the head shops of Amsterdam have been doing a roaring trade in them ever since.

Buy Psychedelic drugs in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, it’s not difficult to find a shop selling psychedelic drugs – magic truffles, cacti, 5-Meo-DMT, iboga, and the like are all widely available at ‘smart shops’. Retreat centers are also accessible within the country, where individuals can pay to trip in a safe environment, and undergo therapy sessions.

Critically, the Netherlands has a national drug testing system called the Drug Information and Monitoring System, with 33 locations and testing around 18,000 samples annually. The Dutch pride in a liberal drug policy is epitomised in Leeuwarden, a municipality home to an annual psychedelic music and arts festival called Psy-Fi, where psychedelics are not only promoted, but sold on the grounds.

Which psychedelic drugs are legal in the Netherlands?

While the Netherlands have a more liberal view to drugs compared to most countries, it is not without some legal limitations. Although truffles are legal, psilocybe cubensis mushrooms (AKA magic mushrooms) are currently illegal, as are pure extractions (eg. psilocine, mescaline, DMT), and ayahuasca – even for religious use. While retreat centers are available for ensuring safe trips, it is illegal for these centers to make medical claims regarding treating or curing health conditions.

History of psychedelics in the Netherlands

The history of psychedelics in the Netherlands is not straightforward, however. In the mid-1900s, a Dutch counterculture movement called Provo sought to protest the marriage of the Dutch Princess Beatrix to Claus von Arnsberg on account of his past association with the Hitler Youth. Their form of protest was to spread rumours that they would give LSD sugar cubes to the horse carriage taking the princess.

Naturally, the newspapers took the opportunity to capitalise on LSD-related hysteria, immediately printing headlines claiming LSD consumption will lead to insanity. Deciding to act quickly, the Dutch government elected to ban LSD and many other psychedelics that very night – ignoring the existing medical research establishing the therapeutic potential of these drugs.