3 days ago
NC lawmakers call for new look at psychedelic drugs for mental health therapy
Good morning and welcome to Under the Dome. I'm Ronni Butts and here's what's been happening in North Carolina politics.
First, a dispatch from Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi on Senate Bill 568, a proposal to create a task force to study how North Carolina could integrate psychedelic-assisted therapies into its mental health system — if federally approved.
The bill is receiving bipartisan support and is backed by Sen. Sophia Chitlik, a Durham Democrat, and Sen. Bobby Hanig, a Powells Point Republican.
At a Tuesday press conference, Sally Roberts spoke in favor of the bill. She said she has two resumes.
One reflects her achievements: two-time world bronze medalist in women's wrestling, special operations combat veteran, business founder.
The other tells a different story — multiple surgeries, seven concussions, two traumatic brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Her PTSD, she said, didn't come from military service or wrestling, but from being abducted and sexually assaulted at age 5 while playing outside.
'That put me on a life trajectory of that of a fighter and of a warrior,' she said.
During the pandemic, stress from her business career overwhelmed her. She began experiencing memory loss. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs offered 'tips and tricks' to cope, but those didn't help, she said.
When that failed, she was prescribed a 'cocktail of medication,' which initially felt like 'being strapped to a rocket booster' — until she 'crashed,' and 'crashed spectacularly,' she said. Desperate, she tried something new, and traveled abroad for psychedelic therapy. She said Ibogaine, a psychoactive substance that's not legal in the United States, gave her 'a second chance at life, a do-over.'
Luke Focer, a former Marine sniper and intelligence professional with seven combat deployments, also spoke in support of the bill. Focer, who works with Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), said VA care and dozens of medications failed to ease his PTSD, anxiety, suicidal ideation and more. He was approved for a grant by VETS to undergo psychedelic-assisted therapy in Mexico using Ibogaine — a treatment he said saved his life.
'This is not a red or blue issue,' Focer said. 'This is an American issue.'
Since 2001, more than 125,000 U.S. veterans have died by suicide, and the VA reports that 29% of veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq will experience PTSD.
Other states are looking into psychedelics as therapy. Texas most recently launched a state-backed research consortium focused on Ibogaine — which sponsors call the largest public investment in psychedelic research. Alaska and Nevada have passed similar task force bills.
As for its chances of passing into law this year? Hanig said there's 'quite a bit of support in the House and Senate — bipartisan support for it.' The bill missed a key deadline to move forward, but its language could be added to other bills that did survive.
— Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi
Senate Bill 50, which would eliminate the permit requirement for concealed carry of a handgun, passed the House Rules Committee in a close vote Tuesday and is on the calendar today for a potential House vote.
But at least two House Republicans oppose the bill. Republican Reps. William Brisson and Ted Davis voted against the bill in Rules, and a few more Republicans left the committee room just before the 12-to-10 roll call vote. Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan has the story here.
Without every single Republican and at least one Democrat, the House cannot overturn a likely veto from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein. In the past, Republican House and Senate leaders have not even called for a vote if they don't think they have a supermajority of support.
The House session Tuesday afternoon started an hour late because Republicans' caucus meeting ran an hour over time.
— Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
Two senators were joined by a Fayetteville City Council member at a Tuesday news conference in support of legislation that would ban 'ghost guns,' which are made in parts and don't have traceable serial numbers.
Senate Bill 409 would ban ghost guns and untraceable firearms.
Sen. Val Applewhite of Fayetteville, who filed the bill in March with Raleigh Democratic Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, spoke at the news conference. Regulating ghost guns 'is not about infringing on lawful gun ownership,' Applewhite said.
'This is about untraceable, unserialized weapons, often assembled in basements or garages, that are increasingly finding their way into the hands of people with no intention of using them responsibly,' she said. 'These are weapons with no paper trail, no accountability and no way for law enforcement to do their jobs effectively.'
Fayetteville City Council member Courtney Banks-McLaughlin serves on the Governor's Crime Commission. Her daughter, Coryonna Treasure Young, was accidentally shot and killed at 15, in 2022, by a ghost gun.
'They are selling these parts and making it out of 3-D printers,' she said. 'They have no serial numbers, no background checks are required.
'Our daughter, Corianna, should have graduated on Wednesday,' she said. 'She should have been in her cap and gown.'
The bill has not moved forward.
— Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
The state Senate on Tuesday passed a wide-ranging bill titled 'Various Disaster Recovery Reforms.' The bill includes all Helene-related provisions that have passed the Senate, said Sen. Tim Moffitt, a Hendersonville Republican.
It also includes provisions the bill previously contained in the House, where it had initially focused on banning discrimination in disaster recovery aid based on political affiliation or speech. The proposal followed reports that a Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisor — who was later fired — is said to have instructed staff to skip homes with signs supporting President Donald Trump. Additions to the bill include new criminal penalties for trespassing or looting homes in emergency areas, temporary building code exemptions in certain situations and more.
What has not advanced in the Senate is the House's separate Helene recovery bill, passed in May, which outlines how to spend an additional $464 million on recovery efforts. The House has called for Helene recovery funding to be handled separately from the budget, which remains stalled.
On budget negotiations with the House, Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters they were working on 'a list of items that we feel need to be addressed.'
Berger didn't elaborate when The N&O asked him about Helene negotiations. 'It's all wrapped up together. We'll have conversations about both of those,' he said.
— Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi
President Donald Trump, alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, paid a visit to Fort Bragg in Fayetteville on Tuesday to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Army, Sophia Bailly reports. This was Trump's first visit to the state since January, when he visited Western North Carolina to assess damage from Helene. As Trump addressed the crowd, he referenced the ongoing protests in Los Angeles against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Trump has activated thousands of National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to Los Angeles. 'This anarchy will not stand,' he said.
North Carolina lawmakers on Tuesday sent two bills to Gov. Josh Stein that target unauthorized immigrants and mandate further state cooperation with ICE. The bills, among other things, would require some state law enforcement agencies to carry out immigration actions and prevent immigrants from receiving state benefits if they are in the country illegally. Both passed the Senate along party lines, Kyle Ingram reports. Stein has not indicated how he will act on the bills.
Today's newsletter was by Ronni Butts, Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan and Luciana Perez Uribe Guinassi. Check your inbox Thursday for more #ncpol.
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