Navajo Peyote Use: Its Apparent Safety
American Journal of Psychiatry December 1, 1971 Robert Bergman 70 citations
A study investigated the rate of serious emotional disturbance among members of an American Indian religion that uses peyote, a hallucinogenic plant containing mescaline. Despite many reports of such disturbances caused by similar drugs, the rate in this population was very low. The authors suggest this is because the feelings evoked by the drug experience are channeled by church belief and practice into ego-strengthening directions, and there are built-in safeguards against bad reactions.