Nevada lawmakers have introduced a bill to create a psychedelics therapy pilot program that would provide a treatment alternative for patients with certain mental health conditions.
The legislation from Assemblymember Max Carter (D) and 18 other cosponsors was filed on Monday, setting the stage to potentially build upon Nevada’s psychedelics laws.
Under the proposal, the state would establish an Alternative Therapy Pilot Program under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It would authorize the medically supervised use of psychedelics including psilocybin, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline.
The Division of Public and Behavioral Health under HHS would be tasked with licensing at least one person to “cultivate, manufacture or otherwise produce psychedelic substances for use in the Program,” the bill text says.
While the psychedelic substances are currently prohibited under state and federal law, the measure would make anyone authorized by the division to participate in the program “immune from civil, criminal and administrative liability arising from that conduct and any such conduct must not constitute the basis for any investigation, detention, search, seizure, arrest, prosecution or other legal penalty against the person.”
The bill’s findings section states that “providing access to treatments that involve the administration of psychedelic substances, under proper medical supervision, may contribute to the public welfare by fostering enhanced treatment outcomes.”
Carter, the 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 Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D) on the panel, hosted by the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines. Both lawmakers were members of a 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.
Meanwhile, Nevada senators last month introduced a resolution calling on Congress to take action on the federal level to facilitate psychedelics research, with the aim of eventually approving the alternative therapies.
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