HEALTH SERVICES: Provides relative to psychedelic-assisted therapy. (8/1/26) (EN INCREASE GF EX See Note)
SB 43 creates a new “Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Initiative” within the Louisiana Department of Health, Office of Behavioral Health, to support clinical studies and drug-development efforts involving psychedelic medications. The bill defines psychedelic-assisted therapy as the controlled administration of substances such as ibogaine, MDMA, and psilocybin, paired with preparatory and integrative psychotherapy. It directs the department to identify academic health centers conducting studies, coordinate with human service districts to find eligible patients, designate a state point of contact, and maintain a list of participating centers.
The measure also authorizes academic health centers to participate in tightly regulated clinical studies and consortium-based drug development trials, subject to federal and state compliance requirements. Those requirements include FDA authorization pathways, DEA Schedule I research registration, IRB approval, liability insurance, study protocols, safety monitoring, and fidelity/training plans. The bill further allows use of opioid settlement funds, federal funds, grants, gifts, and donations to support enrollment and trial-enabling work, and it requires annual reporting to the Legislature on program activity.
SB 43 adds new provisions to Title 28 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes by creating Part IX, “Alternative Therapies,” and establishing R.S. 28:211 and 212. It gives the Department of Health a formal role in coordinating psychedelic-assisted therapy research, patient identification, interagency coordination, and reporting, while also authorizing academic health centers to enter into research and development agreements with drug developers and out-of-state consortia. The bill creates a framework for using opioid settlement dollars and other funding sources to support clinical studies and trial-enabling activities, and it provides for a state royalty of at least 2.5% of net sales from newly developed intellectual property arising from funded consortium trials.
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and largely noncontroversial in the Legislature. It passed the Senate and House overwhelmingly, including multiple unanimous or near-unanimous votes, and ultimately became law without the Governor’s signature as Act 956. The voting record suggests strong bipartisan interest in expanding research options for opioid use disorder and other treatment-resistant conditions through a regulated clinical framework.
The main policy tension in SB 43 is not over whether research may occur, but over how far Louisiana should go in facilitating psychedelic drug development and how public funds should be used. Potential concerns include the use of opioid settlement money for experimental or trial-enabling work, the involvement of controlled substances such as ibogaine, MDMA, and psilocybin, and the state’s participation in commercialization and intellectual property arrangements. The bill’s detailed compliance, safety, and oversight provisions appear designed to address these concerns by limiting participation to federally authorized, institutionally reviewed, and closely monitored studies.