Nevada Senators Approve Joint Resolution Urging Congress To Reschedule Psychedelics And Streamline Research
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Nevada senators have approved a joint resolution that calls on Congress to reschedule certain psychedelics, provide protections for people using the substances in compliance with state law and streamline research.
The Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee passed the legislation from Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D), with amendments, in a voice vote last week. The panel first discussed the proposal at a hearing last month.
The resolution cites research demonstrating the therapeutic potential of psychedelics in the treatment of serious mental health conditions and calls on the federal government to “reschedule psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline and MDMA to a schedule that better reflects the therapeutic value, low potential for abuse and safety for use under medical supervision of those compounds.”
It also points out that there have been federal developments on the issue, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation of certain psychedelics as “breakthrough therapies” and research that’s being funded to explore the substances at the Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The measure urges Congress to increase funding for further research, establish a “streamlined process for approving and conducting research with psychedelic compounds,” and reschedule psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline and MDMA under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
Further, it calls for the establishment of “legal protection against federal prosecution for individuals and entities complying with state law concerning the supervised adult use of psychedelic compounds and require states to enter research partnerships with the Attorney General under the Controlled Substances Act to study the public health outcomes of such state programs.”
Members of the committee approved the measure with amendments proposed by the sponsor, Nguyen, to clarify certain statistics that were referenced and also to build upon language on federal protections to include local protections as well.
Annette Magnus, a lobbyist for the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines, said at last week’s hearing that the objective of the resolution is to “address the current issues that are happening federally with the Schedule I classification of psilocybin.”
“We need to make sure that the federal government is in line when it comes to research—when it comes to the rescheduling of this medicine for research purposes,” she said, adding that advocates would like to see a “medical model” for psychedelics.
“We want to keep this in a medical setting with guardrails, with professionals, so that, this way, we can make sure that there’s a chain of custody, we can make sure that there are safety measures in place and we can really make sure this is used for people with PTSD, anxiety disorders and other things like that,” she said.
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.
Assemblymember Max Carter (D), the 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 appeared with Nguyen on the panel, hosted by the 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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