Bad Policies Have Bad Consequences

The Impact of Short-Sighted Policies on Peyote Conservation

For the past five decades, shortsighted legal and economic policies have negatively affected the future of peyote, leading to alarming consequences

Decreasing Size and Quantity of Peyote

The average size of peyote sold for Native American Church (NAC) ceremonial use has dramatically decreased, from three inches or more to one inch or less. This size reduction directly correlates with the increasing pressure on the limited areas where peyote populations still exist.

Medicine purchased for NAC ceremonial use

Observable Destruction of Peyote Gardens

Satellite imagery of South Texas vividly illustrates the destruction of peyote habitats, with once-intact green zones of Tamaulipan Thornscrub now surrounded by converted land and commercial developments. Each year, thousands of acres of land where peyote thrives are lost to this relentless encroachment.

Economic Challenges for Harvesters

Despite being a licensed trade, harvesting and selling peyote for NAC ceremonies has never been financially lucrative. The dwindling availability of peyote is a severe challenge faced by the small number of licensed "peyoteros," as their traditional means of livelihood nears its end.

Impact on NAC Members

NAC members now endure prolonged wait times and higher prices for smaller peyote plants, reflecting the scarcity and diminishing accessibility of their sacrament. This trend threatens their spiritual practices and deepens concern for the future availability of peyote.

It is a testament to the spiritual qualities of peyote that the Native American Church continues to grow. Increasing membership intersected by decreasing supply is in itself a reason to set a path of protection and renewal for the medicine’s future.

Licensed But Unregulated Harvesting

All states have hunting limits designed to preserve the health and future of game species, considered as a resource to be properly managed, but often allow unlimited bagging of species considered invasive or otherwise undesirable. Whether inadvertently or by design, peyote is essentially treated as an invasive or undesirable species. It is indiscriminately destroyed with no established limits to protect it from over harvesting or eradication. Over fifty years of licensed but unregulated harvesting has resulted in far less peyote, and far less available for sale to NAC members. Without active conservation measures today, it is uncertain where tomorrow’s medicine will come from and at what cost.

If peyote plants are allowed to reach mature size AND are carefully cut, eventually the remaining tap root will produce even more “buttons”. Improper harvesting of mature plants while also uprooting small ones kills them all. Unfortunately this is the common practice that currently serves as the supply chain for NAC ceremonies. Just as unregulated, free-for-all hunting of any game would, this open season on every peyote plant in sight invites the downfall of the species as a whole.

The much more plentiful populations of twenty years and more ago might once have justified ignoring the problem. Now, with decades of abuse to the landscape, the “supply system” of this sacred medicine has become a purely extractive and destructive process. This is no longer an honorable means of procuring sacrament for prayer.

Addressing the Crisis

The plight of peyote underscores the urgent need for timely and realistic conservation efforts. Only by understanding and addressing the root causes of habitat destruction, unsustainable harvesting practices, and challenges faced by NAC members, can we work towards ensuring the survival of this sacred plant for the future.