Nevada Senate approves joint resolution that urges Congress to reschedule some psychedelics and provide protections to people using them according state law.
The full chamber voted 18-2 on Friday, about a week and a half after Sen. Rochelle (D) Nguyen’s legislation cleared the committee. Now it will be sent to the Assembly.
Nguyen, speaking on the issue, said that the proposal “sets out the argument that some research and clinical trials have demonstrated positive results for using these substances to treat disorders like traumatic head injury, posttraumatic stress disorder and certain mental disorders.”
“The measure notes the low abuse potential for classic psychedelics and highlights their safety in therapeutic session settings,” she said, adding that “SJR 10 expresses Nevada’s continued support for expanded research opportunities…and urges Congress and the appropriate federal agencies to increase related funding” for psychedelic medicines.
The resolution calls upon the federal authorities to “re-schedule” psilocybin and psilocin as well as DMT and ibogaine.
The article also highlights federal developments in the area, such as the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) classification of some psychedelics to be “breakthrough therapy” and the research being conducted by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs of the United States (VA) on these substances.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. measure The report urges Congress for increased funding, a “streamlined approval and research process with psychedelic substances” and rescheduling psilocybin and psilocin under the Controlled Substances Act.
The bill also demands that states enter into research partnerships with Attorney Generals under the Controlled Substances Act in order to examine the health effects of state-run programs.
Before the Senate vote on the floor, the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee approved amendments that Nguyen proposed to clarify some statistics and to expand the language about federal protections so as to also include local protections.
The vote on the joint resolution came as a Nevada Assembly committee passed a separate psychedelic pilot program bill that would allow some patients with certain medical conditions to legally access substances such as psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline.
If enacted, the program would allow the medically supervised use of psychedelics among military veterans and first responders with certain mental health conditions.
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The Assembly Health and Human Services Committee took public testimony on the bill late last month, hearing from reform advocates, veterans and their families and members of a state Psychedelic Medicines Working Group, which late last year called on lawmakers to establish a system for regulated access.
Max Carter (D) is the Assemblymember of Max Carter. measure’s sponsor, was among several Nevada legislators who participated in a recent psychedelic policy summit and expressed optimism that the state could make progress toward legalizing therapeutic use of the substances in the coming year.
Carter and Nguyen appeared on a panel hosted by Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines. Both lawmakers were members of the state Psychedelic Medicines Working Group that in December issued a report calling on the legislature to create a program for regulated access to psychedelic-assisted therapy.
In 2023, Nguyen sponsored legislation that would have legalized psilocybin and promoted further research into the drug, as well as encouraged studies of MDMA—but the was significantly scaled back in a Senate committee to examine the use of entheogens “in medicinal, therapeutic, and improved wellness” and develop a future plan for regulated access. It ultimately became the vehicle that created the state psychedelics working group.
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Photos courtesy of Dick Culbert.
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