04/30/2026
Ushering in this new era of psychedelic research will take time, so Dalton and Cotter are readying Nevadans for that future. They are gearing up for next year’s legislative session and expanding outreach to inform state leaders and community members about the issue.
“Psychedelic therapy, where you’re working with a medical professional that’s trained in working with psychedelics, and you work through your issues … I came out the other side with an emotional range that was greater than I had ever had, and so, it was like the lights got turned back on for my emotions,” said Dalton, who co-founded the Nevada Coalition for Psychedelic Medicines.
Kate Cotter, co-founder with Dalton of the NCPM and its sibling organization Sierra Psychedelic Society, said psychedelic-assisted treatments can be “very safe” when used with proper guidance and screening, citing studies from Stanford, the University of New Mexico and Johns Hopkins University. She and Dalton also point to Dustin and Rochelle Hines, associate professors of neuroscience in UNLV’s psychology department, who they said “are constantly doing studies on various psychedelics.”
“Nevada has been ahead of the curve on this issue, and I’m proud to have led SJR 10 to push for expanded research, federal rescheduling and legal pathways for supervised treatment,” state Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, D-Las Vegas, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement.
Nevada would be a good testing ground for future treatments, considering its high population of veterans and those living with substance use disorders, Dalton and Cotter said. In 2022, Nevada was home to more than 205,000 veterans, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness said 600,000 adults in Nevada had a mental health condition as of March 2025.
Link to the full article:
https://lasvegassun.com/news/2026/apr/29/once-illegal-now-hopeful-nevada-advocates-eye-trum/
