The Trouble With Psychedelic Cacti: Conflicting Meanings of San Pedro and Peyote
Contemporary Drug Problems February 10, 2025 DOI: 10.1177/00914509251318751 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
Conflicts around the mescaline cacti San Pedro and Peyote arise from tensions between Indigenous cultural practices, psychopharmacotherapy research, psychedelic markets, and ecology. Through autoethnography, the authors reflect on their lived experiences with growing, researching, and working with these plants. They find that powers of medicine and prohibition dominate among diverse stakeholders, but these powers are also met with resistance.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Autoethnography Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Sociology Environmental science |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Powers of medicine and prohibition dominate among San Pedro and Peyote stakeholders, but are also met with resistance. |
Abstract
Using autoethnography, this article considers conflict surrounding the psychedelic, mescaline cacti, San Pedro, and Peyote. We reflect on themes emergent in the lead authors’ lived experiences with growing, researching and working with mescaline cacti; Indigenous culture, psychopharmacotherapy research, psychedelic markets and ecology. These themes are considered relative to varied San Pedro and Peyote stakeholders. Among these stakeholders, powers of medicine and prohibition dominate, but are also met with resistance.