"Mexican peyote sights suffer under onslaught of tourism, mining," S.
Lynne Walker, Copley News Service, December 21, 2007. Copyright 2007 Copley News Service. All Rights Reserved.
"Pity the peyote, the legendary cactus whose hallucinogenic powers
inspired gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson and an entire generation of
hippies. This ground-hugging native of Mexico's northern desert is in danger of
disappearing, a victim of psychedelic tourism, silver mining and greenhouse
tomatoes. Its defenders come from an unlikely place - the state government
of San Luis Potosi.
The decline of the peyote, which takes up to 30 years to
mature, is so critical that the state has stepped in and passed laws to
protect it. If peyote is the dream drug of the flower-power generation,
it's also a sacred plant for one of Mexico's largest indigenous groups, the
Huichol Indians. They've used peyote for hundreds, possibly even
thousands of years, in ceremonies to communicate with their gods. They even
introduced the powers of the cactus to the Hopis and other North American tribes.
Once a year, the Huichol Indians make a 300-mile pilgrimage from their
villages in the mountains of Nayarit, Durango and Jalisco states to the high
desert of San Luis Potosi, where the tiny cactus grows in the shade of thorny
shrubs. Consuming peyote is legal in San Luis Potosi, a curious loophole
that for decades has drawn thousands of druggies to the desert. As long
as no one tries to take the cactus home - that would be trafficking and
could lead to 10 years or more in prison - they're free to make as many
psychedelic trips as they want. The Huichol Indians, who number 50,000,
have traditionally been a closed society that shields its rituals from
outsiders. But they're so concerned about tourists uprooting peyote, and the toxic effects of mining and commercial agriculture, that they've turned to
state officials for help."
