In 1994, an amendment to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act finally granted Native Americans freedom to use the peyote—a very slow-growing cactus containing the psychedelic compound mescaline—for traditional ceremonial purposes. In recent years though, the skyrocketing interest in psychedelics has threatened the availability of this medicine due to overharvesting, poaching, and environmental degradation in the plant's natural habitat of southern Texas and northern Mexico.
Unless you're an Indigenous American peyote practitioner, please pass on peyote. Mescaline is available in synthetic forms or from San Pedro Cactus that grows much faster and is widely cultivated.
From the Los Angeles Times:
While at least one group spearheaded by Native American Church leaders has begun efforts to conserve and propagate peyote naturally in its habitat using philanthropic dollars, others in the church are more suspicious of investors' intentions, saying they fear exploitation and would rather get funding from the U.S. government to protect peyote[…]
Frank Dayish, former vice president of the Navajo Nation and chair of the Council of the Peyote Way of Life Coalition, compared peyote to the Eucharist in Catholicism.
"Peyote is my religion," he said. "Everything in my life has been based on prayers through that sacrament."
For more, also see Tim Ferriss's informative blog post: "An Urgent Plea to Users of Psychedelics: Let's Consider a More Ethical Menu of Plants and Compounds"
Previously:
• Netflix's 4-part adaptation of Michael Pollan's book on psychedelics, 'How to Change Your Mind'
• Native American Church members fight harassment by authorities
• Oakland, California decriminalized shrooms, peyote, and other psychoactive plants and fungi
