Get help now in Las Vegas: psilocybin emergencies and crisis lines

When should you call 911 right away?

Call 911 now if someone shows signs of heat stroke, has a seizure, has chest pain or trouble breathing, can't be woken, or might hurt themselves or someone else. Don't wait to see whether it passes: the National Weather Service calls heat stroke "a severe medical emergency" and warns that delay can be fatal.¹

• Heat stroke: the Weather Service lists a throbbing headache, confusion, slurred speech, nausea, dizziness, a body temperature above 103°F, hot red skin that's dry or damp, a rapid strong pulse, fainting and loss of consciousness. Its instruction: "Call 911 or get the victim to a hospital immediately."¹
• A seizure, or vomiting in the heat: the Weather Service says someone with heat exhaustion who vomits needs immediate medical attention.¹
• Chest pain, or breathing that's very fast, very slow or labored.
• Can't be woken, or awake but not responding.
• Danger to self or others: talk of dying, heading for traffic or a balcony edge, or lashing out.

What to tell the dispatcher and the medics

• Where you are: hotel, tower and room number, or the nearest stage or gate. In a hotel, tell security too so someone can bring responders up.
• What was taken, as far as you know, and when, and whether alcohol or other drugs were involved. Keep any packaging.
• Medical conditions and prescriptions you know about, and time spent in the heat.

Labels can be wrong: in the federal investigation of Diamond Shruumz "mushroom" candy, which counted 180 illnesses in 34 states, FDA testing found muscimol, psilocin, a synthetic tryptamine (4-AcO-DMT) and the prescription drug pregabalin.² Reporting the emergency to 911 is also what Nevada's Good Samaritan law counts as seeking help (see below).³

When to call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222)

If the person is awake and breathing but you're worried, say a friend ate a "mushroom" gummy and feels wrong, call 1-800-222-1222. In Nevada it's answered by the Nevada Poison Center, run by Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety, a division of Denver Health.⁴ It's free, confidential and open around the clock, staffed by nurses, pharmacists and physician toxicologists.⁴ Call: on November 2, 2026, its site said chat and text were under construction.⁴ Our guides to mushroom gummies and Amanita muscaria cover what's been found in "legal mushroom" candy.

Crisis and support lines: 988, Fireside and 211

988 takes calls and texts, plus online chat at chat.988lifeline.org, 24 hours a day.⁵ Crisis Support Services of Nevada answers 988 for northern and rural Nevada.⁶

Fireside Project offers free, confidential psychedelic peer support by phone or text, during a hard experience or after one.⁷ It isn't medical care: Fireside tells anyone in danger to call 911 and points people thinking about suicide to 988.⁷

Under 18: the Children's Mobile Crisis Response Team (775-688-1670 in Northern Nevada) triages calls around the clock and sends in-person or telehealth teams 8 a.m. to 11 p.m.⁸ Nevada 211, a program of the Nevada Department of Human Services, connects callers with local services but is closed nights and weekends, so use 988 or 911 then.⁹

Free naloxone and fentanyl test strips in Las Vegas

Psilocybin isn't an opioid, but naloxone (Narcan) is worth having if anyone around you uses other drugs; Nevada law names naloxone as an opioid antagonist, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids.³ It's free here:

• Trac-B Exchange, 6114 W. Charleston Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89146, (702) 840-6693: free supplies including Narcan and fentanyl test strips, plus Narcan training. No ID is needed except for naloxone or a vending card.¹⁰ Its website lists no opening hours, so call first. Its rural shipping program mails harm reduction supplies, such as syringes and sharps containers, to Nevadans living 20 or more miles from metro Las Vegas or Reno; enrollment is at nextdistro.org/nvdistro.¹⁰
• SNHD Decatur Pharmacy: the Southern Nevada Health District said in August 2023 that nasal naloxone and fentanyl test strips are available to the public there.¹¹ We couldn't confirm its hours; SNHD's main number is (702) 759-1000.¹¹
• Vending machines: SNHD has announced free vending machines, run by the Trac-B/Impact Exchange program, that stock nasal naloxone and other supplies: at its main public health center, 280 S. Decatur Blvd. (November 2022),¹² and at the Fremont Public Health Center, 2830 E. Fremont St. (August 2023).¹¹ We couldn't confirm that both are still stocked.

A fentanyl test strip checks for fentanyl only, and we found no service in Las Vegas that tests samples for anything more.

Will calling for help get you arrested? Nevada's Good Samaritan law

Under NRS 453C.150, a person who seeks medical help in good faith for someone having "a drug or alcohol overdose or other medical emergency," or for themselves, and the person the call is about, "may not be arrested, charged, prosecuted or convicted," have property forfeited, or otherwise be penalized for the offenses below, when the evidence came from seeking that help.³

Covered: possessing or using a controlled substance, such as psilocybin, under Nevada's drug chapter (NRS 453), unless the possession is for sale or counts as trafficking; drug paraphernalia; local ordinances under NRS 453.3361 that set an offense similar to state possession (NRS 453.336); and violating a restraining order or a condition of parole or probation.³

Counts as seeking help: reporting the emergency to 911, a poison control center, police, a medical facility or paramedics; helping the person who reports it; caring for the person until help arrives; or taking them to a medical facility and notifying the authorities. The law's overdose definition includes mania and a decreased level of consciousness caused by a controlled substance or alcohol, and anything an ordinary layperson would reasonably believe is an overdose needing medical help.³

Not covered: possession for sale or at trafficking levels under NRS 453.3385 (the weights are on our Nevada psilocybin law page); offenses outside the list, such as selling drugs or driving under the influence; and child welfare action under NRS chapter 432B. For a conviction under NRS 453 that the law doesn't shield, the judge must consider in mitigation, before sentencing, any evidence that the person sought help in good faith for someone in an overdose or other life-threatening emergency connected with the offense.³

This describes the statute; it isn't legal advice. Anyone facing a charge should talk to a Nevada criminal defense lawyer.

How to stay with a friend through a frightening experience

If there are no red flags and your friend is scared or confused:

• Go somewhere calm, away from crowds, loud music and flashing lights.
• Stay with them. Speak low and simply: who you are, where they are, and that you're staying.
• Nobody drives. Driving under the influence of a controlled substance is illegal in Nevada (NRS 484C.110).¹³
• Cool down in heat: air conditioning, loose clothing, cool wet cloths. The National Weather Service says to offer sips of water for heat exhaustion (heavy sweating, cool clammy skin, dizziness, nausea) and to get medical help right away if the person vomits or symptoms get worse or last longer than an hour. Give no fluids for heat stroke, which is a 911 call.¹
• Don't add anything: no alcohol or other drugs to "bring them down."
• Get backup: Fireside Project can talk you through it from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Pacific.⁷

Who should avoid psilocybin

Psilocybin is illegal in Nevada (see our law page), but screening rules where it's legal show who is considered at higher risk. Oregon's licensed program won't serve anyone who has taken lithium in the last 30 days, has ever been diagnosed with or treated for active psychosis, or is having thoughts of harming themselves or others. It tells pregnant or breastfeeding clients the risks are unknown, and tells clients being treated for a medical or mental health condition to discuss the risks with their provider.¹⁴ See also psilocybin therapy and trials and rules for visitors.