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Article: Semi-legal drugs.(peyote grows naturally in only four Texas counties, and is used by members of the pan-tribal Native American Church)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- April 3, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A field full of buttons
MIRANDO CITY, TEXAS
WEBB, Zapata, Jim Hogg and Starr Counties, all in Texas, look much like the rest of the American south-west-lots of parched rangeland, dotted with mesquite, cacti and the occasional ranch. In this desolate region, people are far outnumbered by "buttons" of America's most unusual crop: peyote, a small, mind- altering cactus used for 10,000 years as an Indian religious sacrament.
Peyote-officially known to botanists as Lophophora williamsii-grows naturally only in these four counties, and it cannot be successfully cultivated anywhere. For non-Indians, possession is illegal and punishable by stiff ...