Peyote Use by Native Americans essays

Peyote Use by Native Americans essays Today there are few narcotics in the United States that have widespread legal use. Cocaine, marijuana and LSD are illegal drugs. There possession and or consumption is illegal. Peyote however, is one drug that is illegal but, the federal government has made certain exceptions allowing the use of peyote provided users meet certain criteria set forth by the government. With the United States having launched a full scale war on drugs, many feel that the government making exceptions for certain groups to use drugs is unjust, and sends a confusing message for our children. Should any certain group be allowed to use or possess a drug with no legal consequences? Peyote is a hallucinogen which grows naturally in parts of the southwest United States and Mexico, mainly around the Rio Grande River. High doses of Peyote will cause an amphetamine like reaction, increasing blood pressure, pulse and respirations. More notably, high doses of peyote cause a person to have vivid, colorful hallucinations, impairing color and space perception (Alcohol). Surprisingly a persons insight is retained and there is a wide margin of safety while on the drug. Peyote grows in the form of a spineless cactus. The cactus is blue-green in color, bears small pink flowers and has a carrot shaped root. The mushroom-like crown, called a peyote, or mescal button is cut off often chewed, brewed as a tea, or rolled into pellets and swallowed for its narcotic effect. The active substance in peyote is mescaline, a naturally occurring, psychomimetic drug. Peyote tastes bitter, it causes an initial feeling of nausea, then produces visions, changes in perception, time sense and mood. There are no uncomfortable after effects such as a hangover. Peyote is not a physiologically habit forming. That is, a person cannot become chemically dependent on peyote. In 1970, Congress passed a Controlled Substance Act which specifically prohibit...