What's in NYC smoke-shop mushroom gummies, and are they legal?

The short answer

Many smoke-shop "mushroom" gummies and chocolates don't contain what their labels say. FDA's 2024 tests of 54 Diamond Shruumz bars, cones and gummies found psilocin, the synthetic hallucinogen 4-AcO-DMT, muscimol, kava compounds and the prescription drug pregabalin in mixes that changed from sample to sample, and the outbreak tied to those and similar chocolates counted 180 illnesses in 34 states, 2 of them in New York.¹ In New York, a product that contains any psilocybin or psilocyn (psilocin) is a Schedule I controlled substance, so selling one is a felony and possessing one can be charged as a crime.^{7, 8}

If someone is sick after eating one, call 911 for a seizure, chest pain, trouble breathing, a person who won't wake up, or anyone who may hurt themselves or others, and call 911 if you're not sure. Otherwise call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or the NYC Poison Center at 212-POISONS (212-764-7667), both 24/7.^{1, 10}

When should you call 911 or Poison Control?

Call 911 right away for a seizure, someone who can't be woken, trouble breathing, chest pain or a racing heartbeat, or confusion or agitation that could lead to someone getting hurt. If you aren't sure, call anyway. In the 2024 outbreak, 73 of 180 cases were hospitalized, 38 needed intensive care and 29 needed a breathing tube. Confusion (66.2%), drowsiness (47.3%) and agitation (44.5%) were the most commonly reported symptoms, and 28.5% of cases with data had seizures.²

If a child ate a gummy or chocolate, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 at once, and 911 if the child is very sleepy, hard to wake or struggling to breathe. FDA warns these products "may appeal to children and teenagers," and in Virginia a 3-year-old who ate two gummies labeled as Amanita was hospitalized.^{1, 3}

Tell responders what was eaten, and keep the package: CDC notes that common hospital urine drug screens don't usually detect what's in these gummies.³ New York's Good Samaritan law (Penal Law 220.78) bars drug possession charges against people who seek help in good faith for an overdose or other life-threatening emergency, for themselves or someone else, when the drugs were found because they sought help; it doesn't cover offenses involving sale.⁹ Our safety and help page has every help line and the law in full.

What have lab tests found in mushroom gummies and chocolates?

Four sets of tests, each on a few products, point the same way: the label is a poor guide to what's inside. None says its products were bought in New York City, and we found no published lab results for products bought here.

4-AcO-DMT (acetylpsilocin) is a synthetic hallucinogen; muscimol and ibotenic acid come from the Amanita muscaria mushroom; mitragynine is kratom's main compound, which CDC describes as an opioid agonist.^{2, 3} Even samples of the same Diamond Shruumz flavor could contain different compounds.¹

Counterfeits add another layer. DoubleBlind reported in July 2024 that Polka Dot, the brand its reporter saw most often in New York City shops, had started putting scratch-off QR stickers on its bars, apparently in response to a wave of imitations.⁵ A sticker can say who made a bar. It can't make a psilocybin bar legal in New York.

What happened in the Diamond Shruumz outbreak?

On June 27, 2024, the maker, Prophet Premium Blends of Santa Ana, California, recalled every flavor of its bars, cones and gummies. Of the 180 illnesses FDA counted, 118 were in people who ate a Diamond Shruumz product, 26 in people who ate another brand's mushroom chocolate and 36 in people who couldn't name the brand.¹

The case and hospital counts match; the deaths don't. FDA's investigation page, with counts as of October 31, 2024, lists three deaths it calls "potentially associated" with the products. CDC's April 9, 2026 report in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) applied its own case definition to illnesses that began January 1 to October 11, 2024, and says two deaths "were noted as being associated with the outbreak." Neither document explains the difference, so we report both.^{1, 2} The recall didn't empty shelves: by July 16, 2024, some recalled products "were still available at several smoke and vape shops," and FDA warns they "have a long shelf life."^{2, 1}

Beyond one brand, U.S. poison centers logged 362 exposures to psychoactive mushroom edibles in 2023 and 2024, with no deaths; mixing with other substances was linked to more hospital admissions.⁶ We found no published New York count.

What has turned up in New York City shops?

When police searched two East Village stores in December 2022, they reported seizing almost 1,500 psilocybin pills, "Mushie" gummies and mushrooms, and "Polka-Dot" chocolate bars; a "One Up" bar was sold to an undercover officer and another was found in a search.¹¹ In July 2024, the Mayor's office reported finding psilocybin edibles and concentrate at two Bronx sites during an Operation Padlock to Protect raid.¹³ DoubleBlind's reporter "routinely noticed" Psillys gummies, which list "fly agaric extract" (Amanita muscaria), in smoke shops across the city.^{5, 3} Our page on shroom shops in NYC has the full enforcement timeline.

Are shroom gummies legal in New York?

No, if they contain psilocybin or psilocin. Public Health Law 3306 lists psilocybin and psilocyn in Schedule I and covers "any material, compound, mixture, or preparation, which contains any quantity of" them, so a gummy counts the same as a dried mushroom.⁷ Possessing any amount is a class A misdemeanor (Penal Law 220.03), and any sale is at least a class D felony (Penal Law 220.31); "sell" includes giving away.⁸ Labels such as "legal psychedelics" or "nootropic" don't change that, and products sold that way have tested positive for psilocybin and psilocin.^{3, 4} The penalties guide has every charge.

Operation Padlock to Protect, New York City's crackdown on unlicensed cannabis shops, began in May 2024 after the state budget passed in April 2024 (fiscal year 2025) gave the Office of Cannabis Management and local governments new padlock powers. The state's padlock section, Cannabis Law 16-a, covers "cannabis, cannabis product, cannabinoid hemp or hemp extract product, or any product marketed or labeled as such," and doesn't mention psilocybin; on May 14, 2025, the Mayor's office said the city had shut down "nearly 1,400 shops" since May 2024.^{12, 13} Psilocybin isn't covered by the padlock law, but it's still a controlled substance, and it turned up in Padlock raids in the Bronx in July 2024. We found no published total for psilocybin seized under the program.

Amanita muscaria is different: New York's drug schedules don't list it. But on December 18, 2024, FDA said Amanita, muscimol, ibotenic acid and muscarine are "not authorized for use as ingredients in conventional food."^{7, 14} See our Amanita muscaria guide and the guide to New York's psilocybin law.