Magic Truffles in the Netherlands: Legal in Smartshops, While Paddos Are Banned

In the Netherlands you can walk into a smartshop, pay about the price of a lunch and take home a plastic tub of a psychedelic drug. It is not the result of a modern liberalisation. It is the result of a definition.

When the government banned mushrooms in 2008, after several widely reported incidents, at least one of which was later found not to involve mushrooms, according to Jellinek, it did not touch truffles. Eighteen years later the gap is still open, which surprises visitors and worries the health service.

What the law names, and what it leaves out

The Drugs Infolijn, run by the Trimbos Institute, explains the logic in one line: truffles are not mushrooms, so they fall outside the Opium Act. Once the mushrooms come out of a grow kit, they are illegal.

What a tub costs and how strong it is

Strength is the main problem. The Drugs Infolijn says truffles differ from one variety and one batch to the next, which makes dosing harder than with most drugs.

What a trip feels like, and what mixing does

The Drugs Infolijn lists the mental effects as more intense colours and sounds, distorted objects, moving patterns that can be seen with eyes closed, swings between strong positive and negative emotions, jumps of thought and a changed sense of time. The body reacts too: relaxed muscles, chills, headache, nausea, thirst, wide pupils, sometimes sweating and dizziness, and a slight rise in heart rate and blood pressure. Effects come in waves and fade gradually.

Risks the health service puts first

• A bad trip is the most common problem. Anxiety, suspicion and loss of control of thoughts are more likely when the dose is too high.
• Psychosis is a real risk for people prone to it. People with depression, anxiety or a psychotic history have a much higher chance of harm, the Drugs Infolijn warns.
• Do not drive. Effects last three to four hours and you are not sober at the end.
• Set and setting matter. A calm, trusted place and a sober "tripsitter" are the health service's advice.
• Memory and concentration problems can follow. Some people report temporary problems and visual "noise" afterwards.

Is a psilocybin therapy about to be legal?

The Drugs Infolijn notes that research on psilocybin for depression and addiction is under way and results look promising, but there is not yet enough evidence for use in healthcare. Trials use close professional guidance, which a smartshop tub does not provide. Some people microdose truffles hoping for benefits; I found no Dutch health-authority guidance that supports it.

Policy has shifted before. I could not confirm any change in the legal position of truffles in 2026, so check the current text of the Opium Act lists before travelling. For the wider Dutch setting, see our guide to Amsterdam coffeeshops and the piece on THC vapes and gummies that shops cannot sell.

Nothing here is medical or legal advice; the sources are listed below.