Peyote
Pronunciation:pay-OH-tih (also pronounced peh-YOH-teh)
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:11006-96-5
Formal Names:Lophophora williamsii
Informal Names:Bad Seed, Big Chief, Black Button, Britton, Buttons, Cactus, Cac-
tus Head, Challote, Devil’s Root, Dry Whiskey, Dumpling Cactus, Half Moon,
Hikori, Hikuli, Hyatari, Mescal, Mescal Beans, Mescal Buttons, Mescalito,
Mescy, Nubs, P, Pellote, Peyotl, Seni, Shaman, Tops
Type:Hallucinogen.Seepage 25
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 7415)
USA Availability:Illegal to possess
Pregnancy Category:None
Uses.Peyote is part of a cactus plant. Native American folk medicine has
used peyote cactus root for doctoring scalp afflictions. In folk medicine peyote
has also been used against snake bite, influenza, and arthritis. Scientists have
determined that peyote contains substances that might fight infections. Some
Native Americans are reported to use light doses of peyote as a stimulant to
maintain endurance when engaged in relentless activity permitting little nour-
ishment or water, a practice sounding much like traditional use ofcoca. Span-
iards observed such peyote usage in the Aztec empire.
Peyote’s main active component is the hallucinogenmescaline. Some other
varieties of cactus also contain mescaline, although generally in much smaller
amounts. Researchers suspect the peyote cactus may additionally contain
chemicals similar to those appearing in the brain upon use ofalcohol.
In addition to causing hallucinations, peyote can change perception of time.
Psychic effects can include feeling more peaceful and connected with life; cra-
ziness of the everyday world can recede. People can use the experience to
work through their concerns and may be more open to suggestions. Physical
senses may seem enhanced, and barriers between them may melt, such as
allowing sounds to be seen.
Normally a Schedule I substance is illegal to possess except under special
permission to do research with it, but for many years members of the Native
American Church were allowed to possess and use peyote (but not the pure
drug mescaline) for religious purposes. During the 1990s their legal situation