If we decide to wait for the federal government to take the lead, the “psychedelic renaissance” isn’t going to be coming to Nevada any time soon. 

Last week, the Senate Legislative Operations and Elections Committee heard SJR10, a resolution calling on federal agencies to recategorize psychedelic compounds such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) to allow for potential therapeutic uses. 

While that resolution might initially seem like a step in the right direction, lawmakers and activists should resist the temptation to believe a top-down approach to reform is a viable path for success. 

To be sure, federal recategorization of psychedelic compounds would make state-level legalization far less messy. As Sen. Rochelle Nguyen (D-Las Vegas) told The Nevada Independent last week, “It’s much easier to come up with a [state] regulatory structure” if the federal government has already given such efforts the green light. 

“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 explained.  

That is certainly true. However, depending on a “federal-like push” to implement state-level reforms would be a massive mistake. 

After all, this is the same federal government that still considers cannabis to be every bit as dangerous and worthy of prohibition as heroin, despite recreational legalization in 24 states and medical uses approved in 47. Even an intoxicant as culturally (and legally) accepted throughout the nation as marijuana can’t quite manage to escape the prohibitionist clutches of federal regulatory agencies. 

Part of the problem is the glacial pace at which federal agencies operate. In 2022, for example, President Joe Biden’s administration said it would review whether marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 drug — and yet by January 2025 recategorization still hadn’t taken place. 

With President Donald Trump’s administration now in charge, the future of that mild reform has become even more uncertain. Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV) recently told MJBizDaily that “so far, the actions of this administration have not matched President Trump’s previous rhetoric in support of cannabis rescheduling,” indicating the forecast might not be too rosy for the industry. 

Given the degree to which the federal government has dragged its feet on something as simple as relaxing marijuana classification, the idea of a “federal-like push” for reform on psychedelics is almost laughable. 

Indeed, federal inaction is precisely the reason marijuana reform has been almost entirely driven by local and state governments thumbing their nose at federal law. Had it not been for activists engaging local governments and lobbying for state-level regulatory reform, we simply wouldn’t live in a nation where the majority of adult Americans now have safe and legal (at least on the local level) access to marijuana.  

The sort of state-focused efforts that brought about widespread decriminalization of cannabis should be seen as a model for the psychedelic movement. Where the federal government is embedded in a stagnant bureaucratic malaise, state legislatures have far more agility and flexibility to implement sweeping change as public attitudes shift. 

This isn’t to say federal action won’t eventually be needed. Any decriminalization efforts that end up disagreeing with federal law create conflicts that are difficult to resolve on the state level. 

As I have written before, the conflicts between state and federal law regarding marijuana have resulted in countless challenges for a growing cannabis industry. However, the mere fact that such a robust legal market now exists in this area is evidence that federal prohibitionist statutes simply aren’t a meaningful roadblock to state-led legalization efforts. 

Sen. Nguyen is certainly aware of this truth. In 2023, she introduced SB242, which was originally intended to decriminalize small quantities of certain psychedelics and allow research and clinical trials to take place within Nevada. Political realities being what they were, that effort was eventually watered down to nothing more than the creation of a “working group” to study the issue. 

Late last year, that group provided the Legislature with an “actionable plan on how to enable access to therapeutic entheogens and compounds.” And, in keeping with the advice provided by the group, Assm. Max Carter (D-Las Vegas) has introduced AB378 to establish a pilot program managed by the Division of Public and Behavioral Health for the therapeutic use of psychedelics. 

That bill represents a far more promising (and ambitious) step toward legalization than a mere resolution calling for change to federal law.

To the credit of those pushing SJR10, there is a glimmer of hope that federal change is no longer as unattainable as history would otherwise suggest. For starters, activists have an ally in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confirmed as Trump’s health secretary. When he’s not busy spreading fringe conspiracy theories about the measles vaccination or railing against seed oils, Kennedy has rightly expressed support for rescheduling psychedelic compounds to allow for research and therapeutic use. 

Even with such an ally, however, waiting for the Goliathan bureaucracy of our federal government to eventually lumber into action is not a reasonable strategy. If passed, SJR10 might be a pleasant indication of the Legislature’s appetite for sweeping reform, but it won’t be what brings the psychedelic renaissance to Nevada. Actual progress is going to require the passage of bills such as AB378. 

After all, no renaissance — psychedelic or otherwise — will flourish if it’s beholden entirely to the lethargy of federal bureaucracy.

Michael Schaus is a communications and branding expert based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and founder of Schaus Creative LLC — an agency dedicated to helping organizations, businesses and activists tell their story and motivate change. He has more than a decade of experience in public affairs commentary, having worked as a news director, columnist, political humorist, and most recently as the director of communications for a public policy think tank. Follow him on Twitter @schausmichael or on Substack @creativediscourse.