Nevada panel hears support for SJR 10 urging federal action on psychedelic therapies

Senate Joint Resolution 10, a measure urging Congress to act on research and legal pathways for psychedelic-assisted therapies, drew hours of testimony Thursday before the Nevada Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections in Carson City and by remote participants in Las Vegas.

The resolution, presented by Senator Rochelle Winn, asks Congress to increase federal funding for research into compounds such as psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, ibogaine and mescaline; streamline approval processes while maintaining safety protocols; create compassionate‑use pathways; and consider rescheduling certain substances to reflect medical potential.

The measure matters, supporters said, because clinical trials and federal actions already point to potential therapeutic benefits for conditions that include post‑traumatic stress disorder, treatment‑resistant depression and substance use disorders. “SJR 10 is grounded in substantial scientific evidence,” Kate Kotter, representing the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines, told the committee. She cited FDA breakthrough‑therapy designations for MDMA‑assisted therapy for PTSD and for psilocybin‑assisted therapy for treatment‑resistant depression.

The working group that informed the resolution — created by 2023’s Senate Bill 242 and chaired by Marla McDade Williams of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services’ Division of Child and Family Services — recommended a regulatory framework for “regulated access” pilot programs, practitioner training, safety protocols and oversight. “The working group revealed compelling evidence supporting the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and certain entheogens,” Administrator Marla McDade Williams said in her overview of the group’s report, and pointed to Nevada’s mental‑health provider shortages and veteran suicide rates as part of the context for action.

Testimony to the committee combined scientific, clinical and personal perspectives. John Dalton, a Nevada veteran and coalition member, said federal scheduling creates “3 critical barriers”: slowed research, blocked patient access and legal uncertainty for state experiments. “I myself have had to leave the country and travel to Tijuana, Mexico so I could legally engage in what was truly a life saving therapy,” Dalton said.

Medical witnesses described clinical results that underlie the resolution’s call for federal action. Dr. Burton Tabak, an associate professor of neurology, summarized published trials and cited economic analyses suggesting substantial health‑system savings from effective psychedelic therapies. Dr. Dustin Hines, a neuroscientist at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, described likely mechanisms of action and said psilocybin has a favorable safety profile; “psilocybin represents a paradigm shift, probably the most exciting molecule I’ve seen in my 25, 30 years of neuroscience,” he said.

Witnesses and public commenters — including veterans and operators of clinical ketamine services — described rapid benefits for people who had exhausted other treatments. Delvin Bourne, founder of the Born Free Foundation and an Army veteran, said, “Psilocybin has saved my life.” John Henry Parker, an adviser to the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicine, described helping veterans who showed marked improvement after a single psychedelic session.

The working‑group report, presented by McDade Williams, catalogues findings and recommendations: (1) Nevada has mental‑health professional shortage areas across all 17 counties, affecting about 77 percent of the state’s population; (2) the group recommended exploring reductions in criminal penalties for possession of certain entheogenic plants and fungi and developing regulated access programs; and (3) the group advised specialized training for law enforcement and emergency responders, stronger data collection and examination of insurance coverage options for therapeutic services. The report also reviewed other states’ frameworks, including Oregon and Colorado, and urged legislative review of state statutes that would be implicated in implementing therapeutic programs.

Supporters pointed to recent federal activity: the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act directed the Department of Defense to establish a process for service members to participate in psychedelic clinical trials and allocated $10,000,000 in funding, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has funded partnerships to study MDMA‑assisted therapy for veterans with PTSD and alcohol use disorder, speakers said. The Right to Try Act was discussed as not applying to Schedule I substances, a restriction supporters said blocks compassionate‑use access.

Committee members asked about safeguards, access models and research limits. Senator Krasner asked specifically about protecting children; Senator Winn and witnesses pointed to proposed practitioner training, controlled clinical settings, chain‑of‑custody requirements and licensing models used in other states as possible protections. Senator Steinbeck and committee members pressed witnesses on the scale of the working group’s recommendations and emphasized that SJR 10 itself is a federal‑directed resolution — the working group’s broader recommendations would require separate state legislation to implement.

No formal committee vote on the resolution occurred during the hearing. The session included a prolonged public‑testimony period with academics, clinicians, veterans and clinic operators speaking in support. Several witnesses offered to submit supporting research and written materials for the committee record.

What’s next: Senator Winn framed SJR 10 as a bipartisan request that the federal government provide guidance so states can safely expand research and clinical access. She asked the committee to move the resolution forward to signal Nevada’s support for federal action and to enable state‑level work that would be difficult without federal rescheduling or clearer federal policy.

The committee closed the hearing on SJR 10 and moved on to public comment.