Prevalence of reported peyote use 1985-2010 effects of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1994.
The American journal on addictions January 1, 2014 Bob Prue 16 citations
Peyote use among American Indians rose sharply to nearly 10% in the four years after the 1994 amendment to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) legally protected its religious use, before leveling off just below that rate. For the rest of the US population, peyote use remained stable between 1% and 2% from 1985 to 2010. Analysis of 886,088 nationally representative surveys (12,749 from American Indians) and peyote harvest data suggests that pre-AIRFA rates were suppressed by social desirability bias due to peyote's illegal status. The rapid post-AIRFA increase exceeded what could be explained by growth in the Native American Church or available peyote supplies, indicating that under-reporting of illicit drug use can be substantial.