Peyote

In Indigenous populations, peyote is used to treat various conditions, from fevers to pain relief. Members of the Native American Church (NAC) use peyote for healing, prayer, and communion.

NAC members (also called peyotists) use peyote medicinally in religious ceremonies. Peyote rituals are all-night ceremonies that involve fasting, prayer, and ingesting peyote. The ceremony facilitates communication with a higher entity, communion with one’s fellow worshipers, and personal introspection. The typical hallucinogenic dose of mescaline is 5 mg/kg of body weight. In a peyote ceremony, a person consumes a minimum of four peyote buttons and an average of about 12. Each peyote button contains about 45 mg of mescaline.

About 80 percent of peyote’s habitat exists in Mexico. In the United States, peyote is native to southwestern Texas along the Rio Grande River, also known as the “Peyote Gardens.”

Peyote contains mescaline, which is classified as a hallucinogen. The chemical name for mescaline is 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine. The buttons can be chewed, steeped in hot water to prepare a tea, or dried into a powder that can be added to capsules or liquids.

Peyote and ayahuasca are not the same. Peyote is a cactus that contains mescaline, a hallucinogenic compound. Ayahuasca is a psychoactive tea that originates from Indigenous Amazonian cultures. Peyote and ayahuasca are natural hallucinogens, so they’re sometimes included in measures to decriminalize entheogenic plants and fungi. However, NAC members have requested that non-Indigenous people not use peyote. The peyote population is dwindling due to factors like habitat loss and overharvesting, due in no small part to psychedelic tourism.

In 2014, the average market price in Texas was just under $400 per 1,000 peyote buttons. However, in the United States, it’s illegal to grow and sell peyote. In Texas, only licensed peyoteros can sell peyote to NAC members.

Peyote is illegal in the United States because it contains mescaline, a Schedule I controlled drug. However, there is a religious exemption for the Native American Church. Under the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, NAC members can legally use peyote in religious ceremonies.

Peyote is illegal throughout the United States, except for members of the Native American Church. In Mexico, possessing up to 1 kilogram of peyote is allowed for personal use only.

The mescaline in peyote is linked to fetal abnormalities. As such, pregnant women should not use peyote.

Peyote should not be combined with other substances, including alcohol. This combination can increase a person’s risk of faintness, increased heart rate, loss of consciousness, nausea, seizures, and vomiting.