CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections heard a resolution Tuesday that supports the therapeutic use of some psychedelic drugs.
Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 10 seeks to urge Congress to consider expanding psychedelic medicine practices and research on the federal level.
"At the end of the day, we need the federal government to take the lead and give guidance to all 50 states. Otherwise, we're going to end up in a similar situation that we do with cannabis, where you have individual states doing things on an individual level," Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, who helped introduce the resolution, said.
Right now, psilocybin mushrooms and most other psychedelics are 'Schedules 1' drugs, which means the penalties for possession and distribution are much harsher than for drugs of lower classifications.
"Schedule 1 says that there's no medical value and a high potential for abuse. Psychedelic medicine has shown great efficacy in treating addiction and they tend to be anti-addictive," Executive Director at the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines (NCPM) Kate Cotter said.
The hope is that by changing the classification from Schedule 1 and thus lowering the restrictions on it, researchers and medical practitioners will be able to legally research further what proponents say are positive effects of the drugs on certain mental health disorders.
"We want to be able to research this. We want to be able to use this to help stroke patients recover from traumatic brain injury. We want to be able to help treat alcoholism and PTSD," Sen. Nguyen said.
Among those testifying in support of the resolution Tuesday was a former marine who said that psychedelic medicine has helped with his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and he only wishes his son who was also a veteran had been able to seek the same treatment.
"I'm also the father of a purple heart recipient... who did not survive his transition from military service due to the severity of his PTSD," former marine and current advisor for the NCPM John Henry Parker said.
