What is Peyote?
Peyote is a small, spineless cactus that is native to Mexico and the southwestern regions of the United States, particularly Texas.
Known scientifically as Lophophora williamsii, Peyote has a long history of ceremonial and spiritual use among various Indigenous cultures in these regions.
The psychoactive properties of Peyote create profound alterations in perception, including visual and auditory effects, changes in thinking patterns, and an expanded sense of consciousness.
Use of Peyote was banned in the United States in 1970, but the law was later amended to allow Peyote to be used in “bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church” (NAC).
Thus, Peyote has a unique status under federal law, reflected in the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 (AIRFA) and the AIRFA amendments of 1994.
Outside of these religious contexts, the use of Peyote and mescaline is generally prohibited or strictly regulated in many countries.
Despite the laws, Peyote is suffering a conservation crisis due to poaching, overharvesting, and habitat loss, as well as illicit psychedelic tourism. As early as 1991, Peyote was declared an endangered species in Mexico. As a slow-growing cactus, Peyote could face extinction without intervention.
There is a strong need for Peyote: the Indigenous Medicine Conservation (IMC) Fund estimates that more than 300,000 Native Americans currently rely on it for cultural and medicinal practices.
This existential threat to their cultural sacrament has led the NAC and the Azee’ Bee Nahagha of Diné Nation (ABNDN) to oppose any federal, state or local government policy initiative that proposes to decriminalize the possession or use of Peyote.
“Our primary interest is to protect the peyote in terms of the decriminalization movement nationally,” said ABNDN President Willie Tracey. “Protecting the medicine is of utmost importance to us.”
These spiritual organizations are joined in support by the Indigenous Peyote Conservation Initiative (IPCI), an Indigenous-led nonprofit focused on preservation of the cactus.
The IPCI’s goals are to restore the native Peyote habitat, provide youth education and engagement, Peyote tending, and ensure access to healthy Medicine for generations to come through a system of harvest and distribution that is regenerative and spiritually sound which restores the balance and health of the sacred lands where it grows.
The IPCI also pledges to oppose any effort by any pharmaceutical or other corporate entity to use Peyote in the synthesizing of mescaline in any form, as well as any related efforts to patent processes that utilize Peyote in the manufacture of synthetic mescaline.
This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or legal advice. It is best to consult a licensed health practitioner about any symptoms or conditions you have and to discuss the use of herbal supplements.