S.J.R. 10
- *SJR10*
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 10–SENATORS NGUYEN, STONE;
DALY, DOÑATE, FLORES, HANSEN, OHRENSCHALL AND
SCHEIBLE
FEBRUARY 26, 2025
____________
JOINT SPONSORS: ASSEMBLYMEMBERS GONZÁLEZ, MOORE,
NGUYEN, CARTER, WATTS; ANDERSON, BROWN-MAY,
CONSIDINE, DALIA, DICKMAN, D’SILVA, GALLANT, GRAY,
HANSEN, HIBBETTS, JACKSON, KARRIS, ORENTLICHER AND
ROTH
____________
Referred to Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections
SUMMARY—Urges Congress to take certain actions relating to the
therapeutic use of certain psychedelic compounds.
(BDR R-801)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: No.
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION—Urging Congress to take certain
actions relating to the therapeutic use of certain
psychedelic compounds.
WHEREAS, Mental health conditions, including post-traumatic 1
stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression, anxiety 2
disorders and substance use disorders, affect millions of Americans, 3
including veterans, first responders and other residents of Nevada; 4
and 5
WHEREAS, Conventional treatments for these mental health 6
conditions often prove inadequate for many patients, leaving such 7
patients without effective therapeutic options; and 8
WHEREAS, Preliminary research has indicated that certain 9
psychedelic compounds, including psilocybin, psilocin, N,N-10
dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ibogaine, mescaline and 3,4-11
methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), when administered in 12
– 2 –
- *SJR10*
controlled clinical settings, show promising therapeutic potential for 1
treating various mental health conditions; and 2
WHEREAS, The United States Food and Drug Administration 3
has granted, in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively, MDMA-assisted 4
therapy for PTSD, psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant 5
depression and psilocybin therapy for major depressive disorder 6
Breakthrough Therapy designation, thereby acknowledging the 7
potential of those treatments to offer substantial improvement over 8
existing treatments and expediting their development and review; 9
and 10
WHEREAS, Multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials have 11
demonstrated the safety and efficacy of certain psychedelic-assisted 12
therapy, with trials showing that MDMA-assisted therapy led to 67 13
percent of patients with severe PTSD no longer meeting diagnostic 14
criteria after treatment, and psilocybin-assisted therapy led to a 71-15
percent reduction in depressive symptoms at 1 week post-treatment 16
for patients with treatment-resistant depression, with 58 percent of 17
patients maintaining significant improvement at their 3-month 18
follow-up; and 19
WHEREAS, Researchers at Stanford University demonstrated 20
that ibogaine treatment led to significant improvements in veterans 21
with traumatic brain injury and PTSD, with participants 22
experiencing average reductions of 88 percent in symptoms of 23
PTSD, of 87 percent in symptoms of depression and of 81 percent in 24
symptoms of anxiety at their 1-month follow-up; and 25
WHEREAS, Multiple studies focused on veterans conducted at 26
leading institutions have shown promising results for treating PTSD 27
related to combat and traumatic brain injury with psychedelic 28
compounds, including recent breakthrough findings published in 29
Nature Medicine regarding magnesium-stabilized ibogaine for the 30
treatment of traumatic brain injury; and 31
WHEREAS, Clinical research has demonstrated significant 32
potential for psychedelic compounds to address chronic pain 33
conditions, with studies showing that the pulse administration of 34
psilocybin reduced the frequency of cluster headache attacks by 35
approximately 50 percent from baseline, from an average of 18.4 36
attacks to 9.8 attacks per week, and MDMA-assisted therapy 37
produced significant reductions in the pain intensity, disability and 38
overall pain severity of patients with PTSD with high baseline pain 39
levels; and 40
WHEREAS, The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 41
Year 2024, Public Law 118-31, directed the Department of Defense 42
to establish a process for service members to participate in clinical 43
trials studying psychedelic compounds, including psilocybin and 44
MDMA, for treating PTSD and traumatic brain injury, allocated 45
– 3 –
- *SJR10*
$10,000,000 in funding and authorized partnerships with other 1
agencies and academic institutions, thereby demonstrating growing 2
federal recognition of the potential of these treatments; and 3
WHEREAS, The Department of Veterans Affairs has partnered 4
with researchers at Brown University and Yale University to 5
conduct a 5-year study, at the cost of $1,500,000, at the Providence 6
VA Medical Center and West Haven VA Medical Center evaluating 7
MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with co-occurring PTSD and 8
alcohol use disorder, representing the first research initiative 9
involving psychedelic-assisted therapy funded by the Department 10
since the 1960s, and which was part of a broader effort announced 11
in January 2025 to investigate the safety and efficacy of psychedelic 12
compounds for treating veterans with mental health conditions; and 13
WHEREAS, Extensive research has demonstrated that classic 14
psychedelics have low abuse potential, with studies showing no 15
physical dependence or withdrawal symptoms and clinical evidence 16
indicating that psychedelic compounds can effectively treat 17
substance use disorders; and 18
WHEREAS, Clinical research demonstrates that psychedelic 19
compounds like psilocybin and MDMA have a favorable safety 20
profile when administered in controlled clinical settings with 21
appropriate medical screening and supervision, with studies 22
showing no lasting neuropsychological deficits, organ damage or 23
serious adverse reactions and a significantly lower rate of adverse 24
medical events compared to many current standard treatments; and 25
WHEREAS, Schedule I classification under the Controlled 26
Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. §§ 801 et seq., designates a substance as 27
having no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for 28
abuse; and 29
WHEREAS, Controlled substances classified in schedule I are 30
subject to significant barriers to research, including more 31
burdensome regulatory and bureaucratic hurdles than research of 32
other controlled substances; and 33
WHEREAS, Physicians cannot access controlled substances 34
classified in schedule I to treat patients who have terminal or life-35
threatening conditions under the Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, 36
Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act of 2017 37
(“Right to Try Act”), Public Law 115-176, even if the controlled 38
substance is otherwise an eligible investigational drug under the 39
Act; and 40
WHEREAS, The low potential for abuse of psychedelic 41
compounds and evidence of their medical utility, particularly the 42
designation of Breakthrough Therapies by the United States Food 43
and Drug Administration, contradicts their classification as schedule 44
I controlled substances; and 45
– 4 –
- *SJR10*
WHEREAS, Leading medical research institutions have 1
established dedicated centers for psychedelic research, including the 2
Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, 3
the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation at the Petrie-Flom 4
Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at 5
Harvard Law School, the University of California Berkeley Center 6
for the Science of Psychedelics, the New York University Langone 7
Health’s Center for Psychedelic Medicine, the Parsons Research 8
Center for Psychedelic Healing at the Icahn School of Medicine at 9
Mount Sinai, the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, the 10
University of Wisconsin-Madison Transdisciplinary Center for 11
Research in Psychoactive Substances, the Stanford Psychedelic 12
Science Group, the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for the 13
Neuroscience of Psychedelics, the Charmaine and Gordon McGill 14
Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy at Dell Medical 15
School at the University of Texas at Austin and the Washington 16
University Program in Psychedelics Research; and 17
WHEREAS, The State of Nevada recognizes the urgent need to 18
address the mental health crisis and expand treatment options for 19
those in need; now, therefore, be it 20
RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF 21
NEVADA, JOINTLY, That the Nevada Legislature hereby urges the 22
Congress of the United States and the appropriate federal agencies 23
to: 24
1. Increase federal funding for research into the therapeutic 25
applications of psychedelic compounds, particularly for treating 26
mental health conditions, substance use disorders and chronic pain; 27
2. Establish a streamlined process for approving and 28
conducting research with psychedelic compounds, while 29
maintaining appropriate safety protocols and oversight; 30
3. Establish a process to allow for compassionate medical use 31
of psychedelic eligible investigational drugs under the Right to Try 32
Act, while maintaining appropriate safety protocols and oversight; 33
4. Reschedule psilocybin, psilocin, DMT, ibogaine, mescaline 34
and MDMA to a schedule that better reflects the therapeutic value, 35
low potential for abuse and safety for use under medical supervision 36
of those compounds, giving priority to the rescheduling of 37
compounds that have received Breakthrough Therapy designation 38
from the United States Food and Drug Administration; and 39
5. Establish legal protection against federal prosecution for 40
individuals and entities complying with state law concerning the 41
supervised adult use of psychedelic compounds and require states to 42
enter research partnerships with the Attorney General under the 43
Controlled Substances Act to study the public health outcomes of 44
such state programs; and be it further 45
– 5 –
- *SJR10*
RESOLVED, That the Nevada Legislature supports expanded 1
research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds at 2
qualified research institutions within this State; and be it further 3
RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and 4
transmit a copy of this resolution to the President of the United 5
States, the Vice President of the United States as the presiding 6
officer of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 7
each member of the Nevada Congressional Delegation, the 8
Administrator of the United States Drug Enforcement 9
Administration and the Director of the National Institutes of Health; 10
and be it further 11
RESOLVED, That this resolution becomes effective upon 12
passage. 13
H