Nevada’s legislature has approved a bill that will create a working group to study and develop a plan for regulated access to therapeutic psychedelics. The bill now goes to the governor.
The Assembly approved the measure by Sen. Rochelle (D) on Sunday with a vote of 40-0, one day before the scheduled session’s end. The was passed by the Assembly on Sunday, one day before the scheduled end of session. It had previously been approved by both the Senate and an Assembly committee .
The unanimous vote was taken without discussion.
Nguyen informed committee members on Friday that constituents first raised the topic with her.
She said, “The people who come to you don’t look like they came out of Woodstock…they are first responders.” “They are firefighters and police officers. They are veterans. These are not the people you think of when talking about psychedelics or mushrooms.”
The Nevada Sheriffs’ and Chiefs’ Association and representatives of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department testified before the Assembly panel in support of this legislation.
We need to support this. We should not be in the middle or at the back of the pack, but rather on the front lines of this reform, the sponsor stated. “I worry about being behind if this bill does not pass.”
Gov. Joe Lombardo, the Republican governor of New York, has not made any public comments about what he will do with this bill once it reaches his desk.
The measure was introduced with the intention of legalizing psilocybin, promoting research into the psychedelic and encouraging studies on MDMA — , but it has been significantly reduced in a previous Senate committee.
The revised bill now focuses on forming a Psychedelics Medicines Working group to examine the use entheogens in “medicinal, therapeutic and improved wellbeing.”
The sponsor acknowledged that the law was likely to be amended at an initial hearing of the committee in March. She stated that she would accept changes and that her primary goal was to start a discussion in the legislature on psychedelics.
The bill, as it is currently drafted would establish a 15 member working group under the Department of Health and Human Services of the state. This group will be tasked to study the science of psychedelics, “including but without limitation” psilocybin and psilocin, in the treatment of mental disorders such as PTSD and substance use disorder and for end-of-life care.
The group will also need to examine federal, state, and local laws that govern the therapeutic use of psychoactives, before developing an “actionable strategy on how to provide access to therapeutic compounds and entheogens…that are affordable, safe, and accessible.”
The report would have to be submitted to the legislator by December 31, 2024.
The members of the working group will include the Attorney General, Director of HHS, Director of Veterans Services, and President of the Nevada Board of Pharmacology or their designees. The majority and minority leader of each chamber would appoint four additional members. The governor will appoint seven more members that meet certain criteria.
The Governor would have to choose a veteran who has personal experience using psychedelics for treating post-traumatic disorder, as well as a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist with a background of substance abuse treatment, and a researcher registered with the federal government to study psychedelics.
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Nevada has joined a growing number of states that are reforming psychedelics this session, as the interest in entheogenic drugs’ therapeutic potential grows.
The governor of Minnesota , for example, recently signed a bill with provisions that create a task force to study psychedelics and prepare the state to legalize them.
The California Senate passed a bill last month to legalize possession of certain psychedelics as well as facilitate the use of these substances.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, signed a law last month that created a regulatory framework for the legal use of psychedelics in accordance with a voter-approved measure.
A North Carolina House Committee approved a bill last month to create a grant program of $5 million to support research on the potential therapeutic benefits of psilocybin, and to create a Breakthrough Therapies Research Advisory Board.
The governor of Washington State signed a bill to encourage research into psilocybin, and to create a program for therapeutic access to psychedelics in mental health treatments.
The Nevada legislature has also passed a resolution calling on Congress to legalize marijuana at the federal level.
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The article Nevada Lawmakers pass bill to create a psychedelics working group, sending it to Governor first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
