Psychoactivity and folk medicine 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 concentration of mescaline is typically highest at the sides of the peyote button. The effects last about 10 to 12 hours. Peyote is reported to trigger rich visual or auditory effects (see
synesthesia) and spiritual or philosophical insights. In addition to psychoactive use, some Native American tribes use the plant in
folk medicine. They employ peyote for varied ailments. Although uncommon, use of peyote and mescaline has been associated with poisoning. Peyote contains the
alkaloid hordenine (also called peyocactin).
History In 2005, researchers used
radiocarbon dating and alkaloid analysis to study two specimens of peyote buttons found in
archaeological digs from a site called Shumla Cave No. 5 on the Rio Grande in Texas. 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 5500 years ago. Specimens from a burial cave in west central Coahuila, Mexico have been similarly analyzed and dated to 810 to 1070 CE. , Mexico 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 2000 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 say 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. Since 1846, the official
Mexican Pharmacopoeia recommended the use of peyote extract in "microdose" as a tonic for the heart. 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. British sexologist
Havelock Ellis self experimented with it on
Good Friday 1896, publishing details in 1898.
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 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. According to a statement made by
Gertrude Bonnin in
1916, a member of the
Sioux tribe, the use of Peyote had been the direct cause of death among 25
Utes in a two year period. ==Cultural significance==