Pharmacokinetic and Pharmacodynamic Aspects of Peyote and Mescaline: Clinical and Forensic Repercussions

Background: Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine), mainly found in the Peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii), is one of the oldest known hallucinogenic agents that influence human and animal behavior, but its psychoactive mechanisms remain poorly understood. Objective: This article aims to fully review pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of mescaline, focusing on the in vivo and in vitro metabolic profile of the drug and its implications for the variability of response. Methods: Mescaline pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic aspects were searched in books and in PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine) without a limiting period. Biological effects of other compounds found in peyote were also reviewed. Results: Although its illicit administration is less common, in comparison with cocaine and Cannabis, it has been extensively described in adolescents and young adults, and licit consumption often occurs in religious and therapeutic rituals practiced by the Native American Church. Its pharmacodynamic mechanisms of action are primarily attributed to the interaction with the serotonergic 5-HT2A-C receptors, and therefore clinical effects are similar to those elicited by other psychoactive substances, such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin, which include euphoria, hallucinations, depersonalization and psychoses. Moreover, as a phenethylamine derivative, signs and symptoms are consistent with a sympathomimetic effect. Mescaline is mainly metabolized into trimethoxyphenylacetic acid by oxidative deamination but several minor metabolites with possible clinical and forensic repercussions have also been reported. Conclusion: Most reports concerning mescaline were presented in a complete absence of exposure confirmation, since toxicological analysis is not widely available. Addiction and dependence are practically absent and it is clear that most intoxications appear to be mild and are unlikely to produce lifethreatening symptoms, which favors the contemporary interest in the therapeutic potential of the drugs of the class.

The Cactus and the Anthropologist: The Evolution of Cultural Expertise on the Entheogenic Use of Peyote in the United States

This paper explores the complex evolution of the role anthropologists have played as cultural experts in the regulation of the entheogenic use of the peyote cactus throughout the 20th century. As experts of the “peyote cult”, anthropologists provided testimonies and cultural expertise in the regulatory debates in American legislative and judiciary arenas in order to counterbalance the demonization and prohibition of the medicinal and sacramental use of peyote by Native Americans through state and federal legislations. In the meantime, anthropologists have encouraged Peyotists to form a pan-tribal religious institution as a way to secure legal protection of their practice; in 1918, the Native American Church (NAC) was incorporated in Oklahoma, with its articles explicitly referring to the sacramental use of peyote. Operating as cultural experts, anthropologists have therefore assisted jurists in their understanding of the cultural and religious significance of peyote, and have at the same time counseled Native Americans in their interaction with the legal system and in the formatting of their claims in appropriate legal terms. This complex legal controversy therefore provides ample material for a general exploration of the use, evolution, and impact of cultural expertise in the American legal system, and of the various forms this expertise can take, thereby contributing to the contemporary efforts at surveying and theorizing cultural expertise. Through an historical and descriptive approach, the analysis notably demonstrates that the role of anthropologists as cultural experts has been marked by a practical and substantive evolution throughout the 20th century, and should therefore not be restrictively understood in relation to expert witnessing before courts. Rather, this paper underlines the transformative and multifaceted nature of cultural expertise, and highlights the problematic duality of the position that the two “generations” of anthropologists involved in this controversy have experienced, navigating between a supposedly impartial position as experts, and an arguably biased engagement as advocates for Native American religious rights.

Circulating Silver

Silversmiths made objects that were beautiful and that could render important symbols of the Native American Church. They communicated ideas and images that served as public representations of this religion as Native people exchanged these objects. The emergence and spread of Peyotism from the Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache reservation began to generate new Kiowa and American Indian identities. The jewellery and emerging identities parallel one another. Kiowas and others communicated these changes through painting, photography, clothing, and through jewellery itself.

Reflexiones sobre la expansión y legalidad del campo peyotero en México

This paper presents a reflection on the implications of the use and trade of peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and the challenges associated with its conservation in a religious and binational (Mexico and the United States) context. Our main focus is on a controversy raised by the Native American Church before the Mexican government, via an application submitted to the General Directorate of Religious Associations of the Secretariat of the Interior, demanding the registration of organizations that use the cactus in their rituals. This case is unique because it represents a paradigmatic illustration of the drug policy and religious rights frameworks currently in place in Mexico.

Race and New Religious Movements in the USA

Organized in chronological order of the founding of each movement, this documentary reader brings to life new religious movements from the 18th to 20th century. Engaging with religious studies theory and method and critical race theory, students are provided with the tools needed in order to understand questions of race, religion, and American religious history. Each chapter has: An introduction to the movement, including the context of its foundingTwo to four primary source documents about or from the movementSuggestions for further reading. Movements covered include the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism), the Native American Church, the Moorish Science Temple, and the Nation of Islam. The voices included come from both men and women. Showing that religio-racial movements have been a perennial aspect of American history from the colonial period to the present, this reader provides a history of innovative social groups in America. A timeline of movements is included, and discussion and study questions can be found in the book’s online resources.