Is San Pedro legal? The law by country

Mescaline is in Schedule I of the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971. The plants that contain it are not. In its 2010 annual report the International Narcotics Control Board stated that "no plants are currently controlled under that Convention", and that preparations such as decoctions made from such plants "are also not under international control" (paragraph 284). It added that governments "should consider controlling such plant material at the national level where necessary" (paragraph 287). Countries have done that in different ways, which is why the details below differ (INCB report 2010).

Mescaline is a Class A drug under Schedule 2, Part I of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. Paragraph 5 of that part extends the control to "any preparation or other product containing" a Class A substance (legislation.gov.uk). No cactus is listed, so a San Pedro grown as a garden or house plant is not itself a controlled drug under that Act.

Where the line lies for processed cactus is unsettled. In R v H [2012] EWCA Crim 525, the Court of Appeal found there was "no legal certainty" whether dried, sliced San Pedro cactus amounted to an unlawful preparation, and held that it would be an abuse of process to try a defendant for importing and distributing it (case summary). That ruling is about legal certainty in one case, not a licence: an extract, a brew or a powder made to be consumed can still be prosecuted as a preparation containing mescaline.

Federal law lists both mescaline and peyote in Schedule I (21 CFR 1308.11(d)). The mescaline entry covers "any material, compound, mixture, or preparation, which contains any quantity of" mescaline. The peyote entry names "all parts of the plant presently classified botanically as Lophophora williamsii Lemaire, whether growing or not" (21 CFR 1308.11). San Pedro, Peruvian torch and Bolivian torch are not named.

A separate rule exempts the "nondrug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church" (21 CFR 1307.31). That exemption covers peyote only. Because the mescaline entry covers any material that contains it, harvesting or preparing San Pedro for consumption exposes you to federal prosecution. State laws differ, and we have not reviewed them.

The Dutch Opium Act places "mescaline / 3,4,5-trimethoxyfenethylamine" on List I, together with "preparaten die één of meer van de bovengenoemde substanties bevatten", preparations that contain them (Opiumwet, in force from 17 September 2026). No cactus appears on List I or List II. That stands out, because List II does name specific organisms, such as psilocybin mushrooms and khat. The living cactus is therefore not covered and is sold as an ornamental plant; mescaline and anything prepared from the cactus to contain it fall under List I.

Mescaline is listed in Annex I of the Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz). Under section 2, plants and their parts, processed or not, count as substances. The final entry of Annex I then brings plants containing an Annex I substance under the Act, together with "biological materials suitable for their reproduction or extraction", "wenn ein Missbrauch zu Rauschzwecken vorgesehen ist": when abuse for intoxication is intended (BtMG Anlage I, § 2).

So in Germany the purpose decides. A San Pedro grown as an ornamental falls outside the Act. The same plant, or its seeds or cuttings, becomes a narcotic in law once it is grown, sold or bought with intoxication in mind.

The French list of narcotics (arrêté of 22 February 1990) includes mescaline, and separately lists "peyotl ou peyote, ses principes actifs et leurs composés naturels et synthétiques". Trichocereus and Echinopsis are not listed. We used the consolidated version published by the medicines agency ANSM, dated January 2020, which ANSM marks as indicative only; later amendments were not checked (ANSM list).

Schedule III of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act lists "Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxybenzeneethanamine) and any salt thereof, but not peyote (lophophora)" (CDSA, Schedule III). Peyote is expressly excluded; San Pedro is not mentioned at all. Mescaline in any form remains controlled.

The federal Poisons Standard puts mescaline in Schedule 9, prohibited substances. Under its interpretation rules, a reference to a substance includes that substance "prepared from natural sources" (Poisons Standard June 2026). No cactus is named. Criminal law is made by the states and territories, and the Alcohol and Drug Foundation notes penalties for "possessing, using, making, cultivating, selling, importing or exporting" mescaline (ADF). We have not verified how each state handles the living plant, so we make no claim about growing it there.

In Peru the traditional knowledge and ritual use of San Pedro in the curanderismo of the north was declared Cultural Heritage of the Nation on 17 November 2022 (Resolución Viceministerial 000252-2022-VMPCIC/MC). That is a cultural declaration. It does not change the drug law and does not cover recreational use or tourism; the history behind it is on the history page.

Taking the cactus across a border, or ordering it to another country, brings in the law of the destination and sometimes customs and plant health rules as well. In the countries above, dried cactus or powder is far more likely to count as a preparation than a potted plant is. If you want to grow San Pedro, the growing guide covers the plant itself; for the effects and the risks see effects and safety.