A government task force in Nevada has approved a report recommending that lawmakers create a program for regulated access to psychedelic-assisted therapy and consider reducing legal penalties for entheogenic plants and fungi.

The report from Nevada's Psychedelic Medicines Working Group notes that research increasingly indicates that treatment with substances such as psilocybin, 5-MeO-DMT, mescaline and ibogaine may improve mental health and substance use disorders, and that other states and localities are already taking steps to research or implement their own therapeutic psychedelics programs.

"These initiatives and programs demonstrate a nationwide commitment to increasing access to psychedelic-assisted therapy for mental health treatment," the document says, "and revising policies based on clinical research, therapeutic potential, and safety profiles."

The psychedelic task force was created through legislation signed into law in June 2023. Initially the measure as introduced would have legalized psilocybin and promoted research into the substance and also encouraged studies of MDMA. It was significantly scaled back in a Senate committee, however, to examine the use of entheogens "in medicinal, therapeutic, and improved wellness" and develop a future plan for regulated access.

Entheogens were defined in the bill to include at least psilocybin and psilocin -- two primary psychoactive components of psychedelic mushrooms -- but the working group's report also includes sections on 5-MeO-DMT, mescaline and ibogaine. It additionally calls for further data around "non-traditional psychedelics such as MDMA and ketamine."

The top-level takeaway from the report is its call for legislation that would create either a pilot program or full program allowing Nevadans to access psychedelic therapies.

"Based on its comprehensive review, the Working Group recommends a series of coordinated legislative and administrative actions to establish a safe and effective framework for psychedelic-assisted therapy in Nevada," the 15-person body said in a draft of the new report, which was approved at a meeting this month. A final version of the document is expected to be published soon.

"Central to these recommendations is the development of legislation for the 2025 session to establish a regulated access program for psychedelic-assisted therapy," the report continues. "This program, which could be implemented either as a pilot or full-scale initiative, should include robust mechanisms for data collection and outcome analysis to inform future policy decisions."

"If a program is palatable and functioning in conservative Utah, we should try to make something similar work here."

The state's legislature may need to reschedule psilocybin "and/or other therapies granted breakthrough therapy status if approved by the [U.S. Food and Drug Administration]" as part of the reform, the task force added, and should also consider revising state law "to reduce penalties for entheogenic plants and fungi."

From 2025 into 2026, meanwhile, state insurance officials at the Devision of Insurance and Department of Business and Industry should also "develop a system to ensure that a person's health insurance will cover this mental health care," the group said, adding that "If needed, the Division should present a bill to the 2027 Legislative Session for this authorization."

One member of the working group, Diane Goldstein, a retired California police lieutenant who currently serves as executive director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), said approval of the group's report "marks an important step toward establishing a safe and regulated state system to access psychedelic-assisted therapy in Nevada."

"The research presented to our panel demonstrates a clear need for expanded care options in our state to treat complex mental health conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment-resistant depression, and substance use disorders," Goldstein said in an email to Marijuana Moment. "After carefully weighing the benefits and risks of these substances, we are calling on the state legislature to take bold action to give all Nevadans opportunities to access these potentially life-saving and life-changing therapies."

Another member of the group, Jon Dalton, the president of the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines, cheered the report as "a significant step toward integrating these transformative therapies."

"The progress in psychedelic-assisted healthcare policy in Nevada is undeniable," Dalton said in a statement to Marijuana Moment. "We look forward to continuing this important conversation in the 2025 Legislature to ensure safe and equitable access for those in need."

A former Navy SEAL who used psychedelic-assisted therapy in Mexico to treat anxiety and depression, Dalton told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month that the results "quite frankly, were absolutely profound."

"I never found peace the way that I found there," he said, adding that he's since continued integrative therapy sessions in the U.S. and found himself better able to process his experiences.

"I was amazed that this was essentially a cure," he said.

A lobbyist who works for the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines, Annette Magnus, told the Review-Journal that the organization is hoping to see lawmakers introduce two bills in the coming session: one to reduce penalties for psilocybin possession and another to authorize a psychedelic-assisted pilot program. Both bills are "still very much in the brainstorming phase," she said.

Magnus said Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D) -- who sponsored the bill that led to the new working group report -- and Assemblymember Max Carter (D) are expected to sponsor the legislation.

Carter, for his part, told the Review-Journal he thinks psychedelic-assisted therapy could be a useful tool for treating depression and that Nevada should move ahead on the issue, especially as other states are doing so.

"Unlike antidepressants that leave somebody numb, just kind of existing, it helps people rediscover purpose and rediscover the joy in life again," he said, adding: "If a program is palatable and functioning in conservative Utah, we should try to make something similar work here."

A legislative panel earlier this year heard testimony from an expert and members of the public on the therapeutic potential of substances like psilocybin. Law enforcement representatives also shared their concerns around legalization -- but there was notable acknowledgement that some reforms should be enacted, including possible rescheduling.

Earlier this month, meanwhile, bipartisan lawmakers in Congress celebrated news that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be funding a study to explore the efficacy of MDMA-assisted therapy for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Earlier this year, Rachel Yehuda, director of mental health at VA's James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, touted an initial study the agency funded that produced "stunning and robust results" from its first-ever clinical trial into MDMA therapy.

This comes as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) faces criticism from advocates and researchers after denying an application to approve MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD based on separate research.

Just one day before FDA declined to approve a new drug application for MDMA-assisted therapy, Yehuda said she's been asked how that decision might affect the department's own work. She said the answer is: "Double down on the research. Keep generating the data and the cases. The nature of challenge is, well, that it is challenging. But I am optimistic."

Bipartisan lawmakers separately staged an event at the U.S. Capitol calling for the MDMA approval by FDA, and they also launched an art installation memorializing military veterans who died by suicide.

Separately, advocates in support of expanding access to psychedelic-assisted therapy for America's military veterans released an informational guidebook in October that backers say "responds to the demand for alternative treatment solutions and equips veterans with practical, clinically-backed strategies to safely explore these therapies."

Before last month's election, Vice President-elect JD Vance said he was "fascinated" by the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, asking podcaster Joe Rogan for advice on a creating a possible "pathway" for providing access to substances such as MDMA and psilocybin for military veterans with serious mental health conditions.

At the state level, meanwhile, a newly formed psychedelics task force in Maryland held its initial meetings last month, beginning work on what will eventually become a report to lawmakers on how to reform the state's laws on substances such as psilocybin, DMT and mescaline. The task force legislation advanced about two years after a different law took effect creating a state fund to provide "cost-free" access to psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

In Georgia, a Senate study committee recently recommending that the state earmark as much as $5 million to fund research into how psychedelic substances such as MDMA and psilocybin might be used to treat PTSD.

As for marijuana in Nevada, the state Supreme Court ruled in August to allow the state Board of Pharmacy to continue classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug under state law, despite the fact that cannabis is legal there for medical and recreational purposes.

State officials also recently adopted a rule a rule change that will protect athletes like boxers and MMA fighters from being penalized for using or possessing marijuana in compliance with state law.