The peyote (; ''Lophophora williamsii'' ) is a small, spineless
cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gre ...
which contains
psychoactive alkaloids,
particularly
mescaline.
''Peyote'' is a Spanish word derived from the
Nahuatl
Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...
(), meaning "caterpillar
cocoon", from a root , "to glisten".
[ p. 246. See peyotl in Wiktionary.] Peyote is native to
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
and southwestern
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. It is found primarily in the
Sierra Madre Occidental
The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American ...
, the
Chihuahuan Desert
The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lowe ...
and in the
states of
Nayarit
Nayarit (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nayarit ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Nayarit), is one of the 31 states that, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 20 municipalities and its ...
,
Coahuila,
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With ...
,
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
, and
San Luis Potosí among scrub. It flowers from March to May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with
thigmotactic anthers (like ''
Opuntia'').
Known for its
psychoactive properties when ingested, peyote has at least 5,500 years of
entheogenic and
medicinal use by
indigenous North Americans.
Description
The various species of the genus ''
Lophophora'' grow low to the ground and they often form groups with numerous, crowded shoots. The blue-green, yellow-green or sometimes reddish-green shoots are mostly flattened spheres with sunken shoot tips. They can reach heights of and diameters of . There are often significant, vertical ribs consisting of low and rounded or hump-like bumps. From the cusp
areoles arises a tuft of soft, yellowish or whitish woolly hairs. Spines are absent. Flowers are pink or white to slightly yellowish, sometimes reddish. They open during the day, are from long, and reach a diameter from .
The cactus produces flowers sporadically; these are followed by small edible pink fruit. The club-shaped to elongated, fleshy fruits are bare and more or less rosy colored. At maturity, they are brownish-white and dry. The fruits do not burst open on their own and they are between long. They contain black, pear-shaped seeds that are 1 to 1.5 mm long and 1 mm wide. The seeds require hot and humid conditions to germinate. Peyote contains a large spectrum of
phenethylamine alkaloids.
The principal one is mescaline for which the content of ''Lophophora williamsii'' is about 0.4% fresh
(undried) and 3–6% dried.
Taxonomy
French botanist
Charles Antoine Lemaire described the species as ''Echinocactus williamsii'' in 1845. It was placed in the new genus ''Lophophora'' in 1894 by American botanist
John Merle Coulter.
Distribution and habitat
''L. williamsii'' is native to southern
North America, mainly distributed in
Mexico
Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...
. In the United States, it grows in Southern
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. In Mexico, it grows in the
states of
Chihuahua Chihuahua may refer to:
Places
*Chihuahua (state), a Mexican state
**Chihuahua (dog), a breed of dog named after the state
**Chihuahua cheese, a type of cheese originating in the state
**Chihuahua City, the capital city of the state
**Chihuahua Mun ...
,
Coahuila,
Nuevo León
Nuevo León () is a state in the northeast region of Mexico. The state was named after the New Kingdom of León, an administrative territory from the Viceroyalty of New Spain, itself was named after the historic Spanish Kingdom of León. With ...
, and
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas), is a state in the northeast region of Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal Entiti ...
in the north to
San Luis Potosi and
Zacatecas. It is primarily found at elevations of and exceptionally up to in the
Chihuahuan desert
The Chihuahuan Desert ( es, Desierto de Chihuahua, ) is a desert ecoregion designation covering parts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. It occupies much of far West Texas, the middle to lower Rio Grande Valley and the lowe ...
, but is also present in the more mild climate of Tamaulipas. Its habitat is primarily in desert scrub, particularly thorn scrub in Tamaulipas. It is common on or near
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...
hills.
Cultivation
Peyote is extremely slow growing. Cultivated specimens grow considerably faster, sometimes taking less than three years to go from seedling to mature flowering adult. More rapid growth can be achieved by grafting peyote onto mature
San Pedro root stock. The top of the above-ground part of the cactus, the crown, consists of disc-shaped buttons. These are cut above the roots and sometimes dried. When done properly, the top of the root forms a callus and the root does not rot. When poor harvesting techniques are used, however, the entire plant dies. Currently in South Texas, peyote grows naturally but has been over-harvested, to the point that the state has listed it as an
endangered species. Cultivation is an important conservation tool for this particular species.
Uses
Psychoactive and medicinal
When used for its
psychoactive properties, common doses for pure mescaline range from roughly 200 to 400 mg. This translates to a dose of roughly 10 to 20 g of dried peyote buttons of average potency; however, potency varies considerably between samples, making it difficult to measure doses accurately without first extracting the mescaline. The effects last about 10 to 12 hours. Peyote is reported to trigger rich visual or auditory effects (see
synesthesia
Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People who rep ...
) and spiritual or philosophical insights.
In addition to psychoactive use, some Native American tribes use the plant in the belief it may have curative properties. They employ peyote for such varied ailments as toothache, pain in childbirth,
fever
Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...
, breast pain, skin diseases,
rheumatism,
diabetes
Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...
, colds, and blindness. Although uncommon, use of peyote and mescaline has been associated with clinically significant effects requiring treatment.
The US Dispensary lists peyote under the name ''
Anhalonium'', and states it can be used in various preparations for
neurasthenia,
hysteria, and
asthma.
Peyote also contains the alkaloid called
hordenine (also called peyocactin).
History
In 2005, researchers used
radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.
The method was de ...
and alkaloid analysis to study two specimens of peyote buttons found in
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
digs from a site called Shumla Cave No. 5 on the Rio Grande in
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The results dated the specimens to between 3780 and 3660
BCE. Alkaloid extraction yielded approximately 2% of the alkaloids including mescaline in both samples. This indicates that native North Americans were likely to have used peyote since at least five-and-a-half thousand years ago.
Specimens from a burial cave in west central
Coahuila, Mexico have been similarly analyzed and dated to 810 to 1070 CE.
From earliest recorded time, peyote has been used by indigenous peoples, such as the
Huichol of northern Mexico and by various Native American tribes, native to or relocated to the Southern Plains
states of present-day
Oklahoma and Texas. Its usage was also recorded among various Southwestern
Athabaskan-language tribal groups. The
Tonkawa, the
Mescalero, and
Lipan Apache were the source or first practitioners of
peyote religion in the regions north of present-day Mexico. They were also the principal group to introduce peyote to newly arrived migrants, such as the
Comanche and
Kiowa from the Northern Plains. The religious, ceremonial, and healing uses of peyote may date back over 2,000 years.
Under the auspices of what came to be known as the
Native American Church, in the 19th century, American Indians in more widespread regions to the north began to use peyote in religious practices, as part of a revival of native spirituality. Its members refer to peyote as "the sacred medicine", and use it to combat spiritual, physical, and other social ills. Concerned about the drug's psychoactive effects, between the 1880s and 1930s, U.S. authorities attempted to ban Native American religious rituals involving peyote, including the
Ghost Dance. Today the Native American Church is one among several religious organizations to use peyote as part of its religious practice. Some users claim the drug connects them to God.
Traditional Navajo belief or ceremonial practice did not mention the use of peyote before its introduction by the neighboring
Utes. The Navajo Nation now has the most members of the Native American Church.
John Raleigh Briggs (1851–1907) was the first to draw scientific attention of the Western scientific world to peyote.
Louis Lewin described ''Anhalonium lewinii'' in 1888.
Arthur Heffter conducted self experiments on its effects in 1897. Similarly,
Norwegian ethnographer Carl Sofus Lumholtz studied and wrote about the use of peyote among the Indians of Mexico. Lumholtz also reported that, lacking other intoxicants,
Texas Rangers captured by Union forces during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...
soaked peyote buttons in water and became "intoxicated with the liquid".
Adverse reactions
A study published in 2007 found no evidence of long-term cognitive problems related to peyote use in
Native American Church ceremonies, but researchers stressed their results may not apply to those who use peyote in other contexts. A four-year large-scale study of
Navajo who regularly ingested peyote found only one case where peyote was associated with a
psychotic break in an otherwise healthy person; other psychotic episodes were attributed to peyote use in conjunction with pre-existing substance abuse or mental health problems. Later research found that those with pre-existing mental health issues are more likely to have adverse reactions to peyote. Peyote use does not appear to be associated with
hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (a.k.a. "flashbacks") after religious use. Peyote also does not seem to be associated with
physical dependence, but some users may experience
psychological dependence.
Peyote can have strong
emetic effects, and one death has been attributed to
esophageal bleeding caused by vomiting after peyote ingestion in a Native American patient with a history of alcohol abuse. Peyote is also known to cause potentially serious variations in heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and
pupillary dilation.
Research into the
huichol natives of central-western Mexico, who have taken peyote regularly for an estimated 1,500 years or more, found no evidence of
chromosome
A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins ar ...
damage in either men or women.
Cultural significance
Wixarika (Huichol) culture
The
Wixarika
The Huichol or Wixárika are an indigenous people of Mexico and the United States living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango, as well as in the United States in the states of California, ...
religion consists of four principal
deities: Corn, Kayumarie (Blue Deer), Hikuri (Peyote), and the Eagle, all descended from their Sun God. Schaefer has interpreted this to mean that peyote is the soul of their religious culture and a
visionary sacrament that opens a pathway to the other deities.
File:Arte Huichol A.JPG
File:MaskNecklacesTep.JPG
File:Huichol-Fadenbild.jpg
File:Huichol Trabajando.JPG
Legality
United Nations
Canada
Mescaline is listed as a Schedule III controlled substance under the Canadian
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
The ''Controlled Drugs and Substances Act'' (french: Loi réglementant certaines drogues et autres substances) (the ''Act'') is Canada's federal drug control statute. Passed in 1996 under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's government, it repeals ...
, but peyote is specifically exempt. Possession and use of peyote plants is legal.
United States
Non-drug uses of peyote in religious ceremonies by the Native American Church and its members is exempt from registration. This law has been codified as a
statute in the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978, and made part of the
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
in ''
Peyote Way Church of God, Inc. v. Thornburgh
''Peyote Way Church of God, Inc. v. Thornburgh'' was a court case decided by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in which the Peyote Way Church of God challenged an exemption in the Controlled Substances Act that permitted me ...
'', (5th Cir. 1991); it is also in
administrative law
Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as " regulations"), ...
at the which states for "Special Exempt Persons":
Section 1307.31 Native American Church. The listing of peyote as a controlled substance in Schedule I does not apply to the nondrug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies of the Native American Church, and members of the Native American Church so using peyote are exempt from registration. Any person who manufactures peyote for or distributes peyote to the Native American Church, however, is required to obtain registration annually and to comply with all other requirements of law.
''U.S. v. Boyll'', 774 F.Supp. 1333 (D.N.M. 1991) addresses this racial issue specifically and concludes:
For the reasons set out in this Memorandum Opinion and
Order, the Court holds that, pursuant to 21 C.F.R. § 1307.31
(1990), the classification of peyote as a Schedule I controlled
substance, see 21 U.S.C. § 812(c), Schedule I(c)(12), does not
apply to the importation, possession or use of peyote for 'bona
fide' ceremonial use by members of the Native American Church,
regardless of race.
Following the passage of the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994, United States
federal law
Federal law is the body of law created by the federal government of a country. A federal government is formed when a group of political units, such as states or provinces join in a federation, delegating their individual sovereignty and many ...
(and many
state laws) protects the
harvest,
possession,
consumption and
cultivation of peyote as part of "
bona fide religious ceremonies" (the federal statute is the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, codified at , "Traditional Indian religious use of the peyote sacrament", exempting only use by Native American persons. US v. Boyll expanded permitted use to all persons engaged in traditional Indian religious use, regardless of race. All US states with the exception of Idaho, Utah, and Texas allow usage by non-native, non-enrolled persons in the context of ceremonies of the
Native American Church. Some states such as Arizona additionally exempt any general bona fide religious activity or spiritual intent. US jurisdictions enacted these specific statutory exemptions in reaction to the
US Supreme Court's decision in ''
Employment Division v. Smith'', , which held that laws prohibiting the use of peyote that do not specifically exempt religious use nevertheless do not violate the
Free Exercise Clause of the
First Amendment. Though use in Native American Church ceremonies or traditional Indian religious use, regardless of race, is legal under US federal law and additional uses are legal under some state laws, peyote is listed by the United States DEA as a
Schedule I Schedule 1 may refer to:
* Schedule I Controlled Substances within the US Controlled Substances Act
* Schedule I Controlled Drugs and Substances within the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
* Schedule I Psychotropic Substances within th ...
controlled substance.
The US military prohibits inductees from enlistment for prior drug usage, however past usage of peyote is permissable if found to be used in accordance with Native American cultural practices.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20040712040446im_/http://usmilitary.about.com/library/pdf/navrecruit.pdf ]
See also
*
Ayahuasca
*
Carlos Castaneda – an author of books involving his experiences with peyote.
*
Convention on Psychotropic Substances: Psychedelic plants and fungi
*
N,N-Dimethyltryptamine
*
Psychedelic experience
*
Peyote song
*
Reuben Snake
*
R. Gordon Wasson
References
Further reading
* Calabrese, Joseph D. "The Therapeutic Use of Peyote in the Native American Church" Chapter 3 in Vol. 1 of ''Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogens as Treatments'', Michael J. Winkelman and Thomas B. Roberts (editors) (2007). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
* Dawson, Alexander S. 2018. ''The Peyote Effect: From the Inquisition to the War on Drugs''. University of California Press, 2018.
* Jay, Mike. 2019. ''Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic''. Yale University Press
*Feeney, Kevin. "The Legal Basis for Religious Peyote Use." Chapter 13 in Vol 1 of ''Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogens as Treatments'', Michael J. Winkelman and Thomas B. Roberts (editors) (2007). Westport, CT: Praeger/Greenwood.
* Baggot, Matthew J
A Note on the Safety of Peyote when Used Religiously Council on Spiritual Practices, 1996.
* Labate, Beatriz; Cavnar, Clancy: ''Peyote: History, Tradition, Politics, and Conservation.'' Praeger, 2016.
* Rätsch, Christian, ''The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants, Enthnopharmacology and Its Applications'' 1998/2005, Rochester, Vermont, Park Street Press,
* Pollan, Michael 2021 This Is Your Mind on Plants © 2021 Penguin Books
External links
USDA: NRCS Plants Profile ''Lophophora williamsii''
{{Authority control
Lophophora
Entheogens
Herbal and fungal hallucinogens
Flora of the Chihuahuan Desert
Flora of Texas
Flora of New Mexico
Flora of Northeastern Mexico
Flora of the Rio Grande valleys
Flora of Zacatecas
Native American Church
Native American religion
Huichol
Plants used in traditional Native American medicine
Psychedelic phenethylamine carriers
Religion and politics
Cacti of the United States
Cacti of Mexico
Psychoactive cacti