Bode Miller, the Olympic champion known for his daring ski racing style, has entered not guilty pleas to two misdemeanor counts stemming from an arrest in eastern Idaho earlier this month. Court records show the 48-year-old was arrested June 6 and, the next week, pleaded not guilty to possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In an Instagram post, Miller said the traffic stop happened after he sped up to get past another vehicle on the highway. He wrote that a friend in the vehicle had a small amount of cannabis along with a cannabis pipe, items he said he did not know were there. “We fully cooperated with the officer,” he said. “I am hopeful the misdemeanor charges will be dropped once the facts are reviewed.”
The court file does not spell out the events leading to the arrest. However, a probable cause statement from Fremont County Sheriff’s Deputy Jacob Hurt says Miller was found with a white dispensary bag containing 4.1 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.
The case comes as psychedelics remain tightly restricted in Idaho, which has some of the toughest drug laws in the country. At the same time, psilocybin has gained traction among some mental health advocates, who argue that microdosing or supervised therapeutic use may help reduce anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Colorado and Oregon have created regulated psilocybin access programs.
Federal policy has also shifted in recent months. In April, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to accelerate research and speed access pathways for certain psychedelic medicines, and the FDA later announced regulatory actions to support development of serotonin-2A agonists and related products under review for serious mental illness.
Miller built his skiing career on a go-for-broke approach that often delivered either spectacular results or dramatic crashes. That aggressive, high-risk style helped him win six Olympic medals, including gold in the super-combined at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
He also finished his career with 33 World Cup victories, two overall World Cup championships and four gold medals at world championships. Miller formally retired from professional ski racing in 2017. His final major race came at the 2015 world championships in Beaver Creek, Colorado, where he crashed hard in the super-G after clipping a gate too closely and catching his left arm. The impact sent him spinning out of control as both skis released, and he tumbled repeatedly before regaining his footing. After waiting for his skis to be brought to him, he clicked back in, skied down the course and waved to spectators. He later had surgery to repair a torn right hamstring tendon caused by a ski slicing him.