For three and a half months, the cacti remained in the custody of the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. After intense negotiations that included a week long prayer fast by Leo Mercado, the Sheriffs Office returned the sacramental garden on January 25, 1996. Because of neglectful storage in the county sheriffs' office, approximately 400 of the live plants were destroyed. The Mercados replanted the remaining cacti and created the first state-approved sacramental peyote garden.
In light of this legal precedent, Raven and Leo Mercado, with fellow active peyotists, Patricia Byarlay and Derek Westlund, created The Peyote Foundation to further protect and promote the peyote and its religions. As a legal entity, working within the limits of the law, The Peyote Foundation will serve individuals and groups who have an interest in this inspirational experience. The maintenance of The Peyote Foundation's sacramental garden remains the keystone of the organization's existence and is a bona-fide extension of the religious beliefs of its members.
Because of peyote's curious legal situation, it is essential that the Peyote Foundation assist their fellow peyotists in cultivating sacramental gardens. The US government considers plants and seeds of the Lophophora genus dangerous, non-medicinal drugs and classifies them as Schedule I substances. However, with varying requirements, federal, and most state statutes provide exemptions for its religious use. (Look for a comprehensive listing of various state laws in an upcoming issue of PAJ.)
Arizona, however, has the most constitutional of the various state statutes. Religious sincerity, and not race or specific church membership, is the main requirement in satisfying Arizona's sacramental use exemption (Arizona Revised Statutes 13-3402). Yet, the burden of proving religious intent rests with the individual and not with the State. Thus, the Arizona law serves a constitutional purpose in preserving individual religious liberty without regard to race or creed, while safeguarding public welfare.
Because the cacti grows naturally only in the heart of the Chihuahuan desert (Southern edge of Texas and Northwestern Mexico), legal access to peyote is easily controlled. Collecting and selling peyote to the NAC is regulated by the state of Texas and the federal government. The state of Texas requires that to purchase peyote legally, one must be a member of the NAC and at least 25% Native American. By barring access to non-Native Americans, the state of Texas and the US government are clearly violating the lst Amendment and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
An estimated minimum of 250,000 peyotists in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are buying peyote harvested from the relatively small Texas population. Several million peyote buttons are bought annually from the handful of licensed commercial dealers. The resulting commercialization has caused endangerment to the plant and its spiritual use.
At the Peyote Foundation, we believe the care and cultivation of the living peyote plant to be an act of religious devotion in and of itself and is therefore exempt from prosecution under Arizona law. Rather than resort to further over-harvesting of the native peyote fields, we believe that the sacrament should be cultivated by as many devoted peyotists as possible. By propagating the species and empowering others to do the same, the Peyote Foundation hopes to preserve the peyote and its spiritual use for future generations to experience and cherish.
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