Nevada hearing backs pilot to study psychedelic-assisted therapy for veterans, first responders

Supporters of Assembly Bill 378 told the Nevada Assembly Committee on Health and Human Services that the bill would create a limited pilot program to test psychedelic-assisted therapy for military veterans and former first responders under medically supervised conditions. The bill’s sponsors said the pilot is intended to generate Nevada-specific data, protect participants, and inform future regulatory steps.

The bill’s co-presenters said AB378 would be a narrow, time-limited pilot, not a broad legalization measure. “No one who serves our country and our communities should have to leave the country to seek this life saving therapy,” said John Dalton, a co-presenter and retired Navy SEAL, describing his own treatment overseas and the mental-health challenges he faced after service. Sponsor Assemblyman Max Carter said the therapies helped him recover from treatment-resistant depression following a personal tragedy and described the measure as a “proof-of-concept” step toward wider, regulated access.

Supporters and experts told the committee the program would be administered by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) and would include eligibility limits, clinical oversight, cultivation or procurement rules for investigational substances, and comprehensive data collection. “Section 9 of the bill creates the alternative therapy pilot program to provide medically supervised administration of psychedelic substances for the purpose of treating mental health conditions among veterans and former first responders,” said Kate Cotter, executive director of the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines, summarizing key provisions of the draft language.

Neuroscientist Dustin Hines told the committee the existing research supports safety and effectiveness when psychedelics are administered in controlled clinical settings. “Psychedelics are not addictive at all. In fact, the opposite,” Hines said, and he cited studies that he said show strong safety profiles and potential long-term benefits. Psychiatrist Barry Cole, while urging rigorous science, said the bill is “the first step” toward the trials that would be required to expand access.

Several witnesses described personal or secondhand experiences with psychedelic-assisted therapies and asked the committee to act on what they described as an urgent public-health problem. Diane Goldstein, a retired police lieutenant and executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership, told the committee Nevada’s veteran suicide rate and the high rates of mental illness among first responders motivated the measure. Multiple veterans and first responders recounted that therapies they accessed outside the United States or in research settings produced rapid, substantial improvements in symptoms they said had resisted standard treatments.

Presenters and witnesses addressed operational issues the committee raised. Cotter said the Division would adopt regulations to implement the pilot and that the Division could contract with academic or private research partners to run treatment and data-collection protocols. She noted federal requirements for investigational use of Schedule I substances — including investigational new drug (IND) filings and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) — and said the bill leaves specifics of production and regulatory compliance to implementing regulations.

Committee members asked about treatment settings, duration of sessions and clinical staffing. Carter and Dalton described supervised, on-site administration (not take-home use) and told members typical session lengths for psilocybin can be six to eight hours. Carter and Cotter also described a preference to secure outside funding and private or academic partners to limit state fiscal impact.

No vote was taken during the hearing. The committee closed the bill hearing after testimony and questions and moved to the next agenda item.

Ending: The hearing record shows broad public testimony in support and technical questions from committee members about program design, workforce capacity and regulatory compliance. The bill sponsor and proponents signaled they will continue to work with state agencies and stakeholders on regulatory and implementation details before the bill moves forward for further committee action.