Louisiana's House of Representatives passed a bill creating a psychedelic-assisted therapy pilot program funded by opioid settlement dollars on Thursday in a 97-0 vote, weeks after the Senate approved it unanimously. A House floor amendment adding MDMA—alongside psilocybin and ibogaine—means the bill must return to the Senate before reaching Gov. Jeff Landry (R).
SB 43 was sponsored by Sen. Patrick McMath (R). Rep. Neil Riser (R), who carried it in the House, said the MDMA addition "put us in positive correlation" with a psychedelics executive order recently signed by President Donald Trump "so that we can look at all different alternatives, including those that are beyond ibogaine that were listed in the executive order." Riser cited veteran suicide rates, noting that "for every soldier that's killed in action, five commit suicide when they get home," and added that firefighters and police officers with PTSD would also benefit.
If enacted, the program would be administered by the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), overseeing clinical trials for people with opioid use disorders, co-occurring substance use disorders, and treatment-resistant neurological or mental health conditions. All studies would require FDA investigational drug approval and DEA permits to handle the Schedule I substances. Participants would undergo mental and physical health screening; researchers would establish safety protocols, adverse event reporting, therapist training and licensing, and substance tracking procedures. Academic institutions may collaborate to strengthen FDA approval prospects.
Under the bill as amended on the House floor, at least 2.5 percent of net sales from any resulting approved drug would go to Louisiana—reduced from the 20 percent set by a prior committee amendment. Louisiana would join a national research consortium; intellectual property revenue from any FDA-approved therapy would go to the consortium, except for Louisiana's designated share.
Separately, the Louisiana Senate recently passed a bill allowing terminally ill patients to use medical marijuana in hospitals, while legislation to impose up to one year in jail for smoking marijuana within 2,000 feet of a school—including college campuses—is advancing. Rep. Candace Newell (D) has also introduced the “Adult-Use Cannabis Pilot Program Regulation and Enforcement Act,” a three-year legalization pilot; a similar measure she filed last session did not advance, nor did a proposal to establish a cannabis tax framework ahead of eventual legalization.
