By Isabella Aldrete — Democratic and Republican legislators are looking to magic mushrooms to help address Nevada’s litany of mental health care challenges and its high suicide rate.

SJR10, heard Tuesday in the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee, would call on federal agencies to recategorize psychedelic compounds such as MDMA and psilocybin (known as magic mushrooms) in federal drug law to reflect their therapeutic potential and increase research funding into those compounds.

The resolution from Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas) attracted 27 sponsors, including seven Republicans.

Here’s more on the issue:

Approximately 25 percent of Nevada adults experienced mental illness in the past year — notably higher than the national average — and the state had the eleventh-highest suicide rate in the nation as of 2023.
Clinical research has shown that psychedelics have promising results in treating post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorders, and some forms of depression. Yet, without rescheduling, proponents of the resolution said that patients — especially veterans and first responders — face hurdles in accessing care and getting treatment covered by health insurance.
- Nevada’s current regulatory framework closely aligns with federal classifications, maintaining strict controls on psychedelic substances.
  - “Without federal clarity, these efforts exist in a legal gray area,” said John Dalton, a military veteran and representative for the Nevada Coalition of Psychedelic Medicines.
Last session, the Legislature established the Psychedelic Medicines Working Group.
- A December 2024 report from the group recommended that legislators create a regulated access program for psychedelic-assisted therapy this session.
  - AB378, introduced this Monday and sponsored by Assm. Max Carter (D-Las Vegas), aims to establish such a pilot program, managed by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health. It also has several Republican co-sponsors.
- The group also recommended ensuring that health insurance covers psychedelic therapy.
Numerous other states, including Oregon and Colorado, have also begun to decriminalize “magic mushrooms.”
When asked Thursday why she decided to pursue a resolution instead of a bill explicitly decriminalizing psychedelics, Nguyen said she believes that change first needs to occur at the federal level. “It’s much easier to come up with a regulatory structure. It’s much easier to research things. It’s much easier to do a pilot program, if you have some of that federal-like push,” Nguyen said.