Military personnel will now be tested for magic mushrooms or “shrooms,” according to changes to the Pentagon’s drug policy.
An Aug. 18 memo from the Pentagon states that psilocin would be added to drug panels that the military uses to test service members for drug use. The key ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms is psilocybin, and when consumed, it’s converted in the body to psilocin, which produces a hallucinogenic effect or altered state.
Both psilocin and psilocybin are classified as Schedule I drugs by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, which means they have are determined to have no federally accepted medical use, and have potential for abuse. Despite this, psilocybin-assisted therapy has been legalized in Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, and several other states have passed or are working on legislation for further medical research, according to a tracker by Psychedelic Alpha, a site maintained by University of California, Berkley.
“Due to the risk of impairment and subsequent deterioration of security, military fitness, readiness, good order and discipline,” psilocin will be added to service member drug testing panels as of Oct. 1, 2025, according to the memo. The notice adds that the Pentagon is updating its drug detection and deterrence program to “address new and emerging drug threats.”
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Troops have long been tested for marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines like MDMA, Molly or Ecstasy, and heroin use, and in recent years, the services have added newer drug compounds like Delta-8, a cannabis concentrate.
A new Department of Defense instruction from last week lays out updates, which are mostly administrative, to the military’s drug testing program and notes that the Pentagon will collect data from troop urinalysis testing to do long-term studies that analyze “the extent of drug abuse among military personnel.”
“The Department of Defense maintains a zero tolerance policy prohibiting drug use, and we remain committed to continually expanding drug testing capabilities and enhancing our education and prevention efforts by providing effective information on drug misuse, including the use of Psilocin,” a defense official said in a statement.
While troops in service will not be able to take shrooms, once they leave service, they very well might join other veterans turning to psilocybin and other psychedelics for therapeutic uses such as mental health. The use of “innovative therapies” like psychedelics to treat veteran-specific ailments like PTSD or chronic pain has even gained the attention of Congress. A bill introduced in April would create centers of excellence within the Department of Veterans affairs to study and treat veterans with these novel therapies.
