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Provided By: Lisa D

When most people hear the word peyote, they immediately think of drugs, hallucinations, and Jim Morrison. Sure, there’s some truth in that, but we have to see the full picture to be able to know what it is.

Although peyote can be a drug, it’s mostly used as a substance for religious use among native people in the north and central  America. But what exactly is peyote, and what are the common myths about the so-called magic cactus? Let’s dig a little deeper and find out.

Peyote is addictive

Peyote is a psychedelic used by native tribes for thousands of years. It’s usually used during spiritual trips where shamans learn more about how the world works. Just like other psychedelics, the active compound in peyote called mescaline does not lead to addiction. 

In fact, using small doses of mescaline can help cure nicotine and alcohol addictions. So, mescaline is not a physically addictive substance, but you must be very careful not to exceed the recommended dosage.

Peyote can make you go crazy!

Just like other psychedelics, you must have heard the story about your neighbor’s friend that lost his mind after trying peyote. The truth is that peyote can’t make you lose your mind, but it can make you feel like that if you’re not careful. 

Mescaline, the psychoactive substance responsible for tripping is not dangerous, but if you overflow your system with it, you might end up with severe hallucinations that can last for days. 

Research that included close to 20,000 psychedelic users concluded that there’s no link between heavy psychedelics use and different forms of psychosis. 

Peyote can stay in your system for weeks!

Mescaline is hard to come by in most of the world because it’s largely illegal worldwide. That’s why there are so many misconceptions about it. One very popular theory is that you can end up tripping for weeks when you try using peyote. 

That’s just silly. Peyote does have psychoactive effects, but it disappears from your body in a matter of days. 

The trip itself usually lasts for about 2 to 4 hours, but even when it stops, you will have small traces of mescaline in your blood. Mescaline can stay in your blood for up to 24 hours. 

However, it can be found in your saliva for up to 10 days. It stays in the urine for up to 3 days, and hair follicle tests will find traces up to 3 months after use. Moreover, mescaline can’t be detected by classic tests.

Mescaline is available in microdots!

Since mescaline has psychoactive effects, many people want to give it a try but don’t know where to find some. 

There’s a popular theory that mescaline can be bought in small 2.3mm pills, like other drugs. However, that’s not the case because you need more mescaline to induce hallucinations and experience a trip. Even if someone says that they bought a pill packed with mescaline, the chances are that it’s just LSD.

Peyote is the only mescaline-rich plant!

While peyote is the most famous mescaline-rich plant, it’s not the only one. There are at least ten different species of cacti known to have small levels of mescaline. 

Some of them are the San Pedro cactus and Peruvian Torch cactus, but there are other plants with similar effects. Peyote has the highest levels of mescaline, between 3 and 6 percent.

All native American tribes use and grow peyote!

While peyote has a wide use among native American tribes during religious ceremonies. Shamans use them on their spiritual journeys where they learn about nature and the world around us. However, most natives never saw peyote, let alone tried one. 

Peyote is currently used by tribes across the US and Canada, but only during religious ceremonies, as mescaline is illegal in both countries. 

Only the members of the Native American Church are allowed to use peyote acquired from licensed distributors. The current list of trusted peyote cactus of 2020 is growing every month.

Peyote can be smoked!

When people hear about any psychoactive substance, most of them think that you have to smoke it to feel the effects. While that might be true for marijuana and other substances, smoking peyote has absolutely no effects. 

The mescaline has to be ingested, which is why it takes up to two hours to feel any effects. Smoking mescaline would ruin the compound, providing absolutely no effects.

The Bottom Line

It’s clear that people worldwide started turning to natural psychedelics and substances to treat all kinds of health issues. Peyote is one of many plants with hallucinogenic effects, and native Americans use it as a means to expand spiritually. 

However, it would be best to do some deep research before you even think of trying it. Start with smaller doses and work your way up, but whatever you do, don’t start with high doses without previous experience.