Nevada City makes psychedelic mushrooms a low police priority

What did Nevada City pass?

The Nevada City council voted unanimously on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, to adopt Resolution 2026-29.¹⁰ It makes the "personal and non-commercial use of naturally occurring entheogenic plants and fungi" by adults 21 and older one of the city's lowest law enforcement priorities, with psilocybin mushrooms named as an example.¹⁰

The staff report, as The Union described it on the day of the vote, covered personal planting, cultivation, possession and transportation, plus giving the substances away without payment. It listed natural sources of psilocybin, psilocyn, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline, and it kept officer discretion in place.¹¹ Marijuana Moment's later summary also says the resolution covers noncommercial sharing.¹²

Police Chief Dan Foss backed it, saying it lets police build better relations with the community and put more resources toward other public safety issues. "As a police chief of any community, it's really important to understand the values of that community," he said.¹⁰

We couldn't obtain the adopted text from the city, so this account relies on The Union's reporting on the staff report and the vote.

What doesn't the resolution do?

It doesn't change the law. The Union reported that the resolution "does not legalize or decriminalize," and Foss said entheogens remain illegal under state and federal law.¹⁰ According to the staff report, it creates no immunity or legal defense, doesn't authorize commercial activity, and applies only to Nevada City's own public safety staff, not to outside agencies or the courts.¹¹

Left off the low-priority list: sales, paid delivery and paid services; anything involving minors, schools or youth facilities; public use or intoxication; impaired driving; and synthetic analogs.¹¹ Police will still act on dealing and public intoxication cases.¹⁰

Psilocybin and psilocyn stay in Schedule I under California law, Health and Safety Code 11054(d)(18) and (19), and under federal law, 21 U.S.C. 812(c).⁵⁸

Which California cities did this earlier?

Six California cities adopted similar enforcement-priority measures between 2019 and 2023. Each is a statement of local policing priorities, and none changes state law.

Trackers lag behind councils. Mind Medicine Law's 2026 city list, last reviewed September 28, still shows six California cities and leaves out Nevada City.¹⁶ The UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics map lists five.¹⁵

Has any San Diego County city passed one?

We found none. Neither the UC Berkeley map (updated October 1, 2026) nor Mind Medicine Law's list mentions San Diego or any of the county's 18 incorporated cities, and neither shows a county-level measure anywhere in California.¹⁵¹⁶ We didn't search every council agenda in the county, so read this as "none found," not as proof that no one has proposed one.

For someone in San Diego, nothing changes. Simple possession of psilocybin is generally a misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code 11377(a), with up to a year in county jail, and giving it away is a felony under 11379, payment or not.⁶⁷ Our guide to psilocybin penalties under California law walks through each statute.

The same state law applies in Nevada City; the resolution only tells that city's officers where to spend their time. Our map of where psilocybin is legal, deprioritized or illegal lists the city resolutions next to the regulated programs in Oregon and Colorado.