PSA's Sunday Sound-Off: March 29th, 2026

By Jamie Blazquez

“Peyote is not asking us to win an argument. It is asking us to grow into the kind of
humanity capable of protecting something sacred together.”

From our friends at Normalize Psychedelics

The greenhouse was quiet. Prayer quiet. Rows of tiny peyote seedlings sat close to the
earth, no larger than a fingertip. No fluorescent lights humming overhead or industrial
trays stacked in rows. Just soil, shade, and time.

Leonardo Mercado knelt down beside one of the beds and brushed a little dirt from
around a small green crown.

“My wife calls me a peyote midwife,” he said with a soft laugh. “We’re just helping the
babies.”

If you’ve spent time with Leo, you understand quickly why people call him “The Peyote
Lorax.” He speaks for the plant in the way someone speaks for a child that cannot yet
communicate its needs.

Leo has spent decades caring for peyote, by studying, planting, protecting, and praying
with this sacred plant. His work lives at the intersection of ceremony, ecology, and
conservation. To him, peyote is a living relative, not a political issue.

A Plant That Carries a People’s History

For generations, peyote has been a sacrament within the Native American Church.
Before that, peyote has a 5,000 year old history with the Wixarika (Huichole).
Ceremonies often last through the night. Families gather inside a tipi. Cedar smoke
rises through the air while prayers move slowly around the circle. Songs are sung,
elders speak, and children listen. It is not recreational or casual. It is prayer.

For many Native families, peyote has been a lifeline through some of the darkest
chapters of American history including boarding schools, cultural suppression, and
forced relocation. The peyote ceremony became a place where identity survived.
Because of this, Native American Church leaders fought the federal government for the
right to continue their peyote ceremonies. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act
(AIRFA) was first passed in 1978, but its protections proved insufficient and following
the Employment Division v. Smith case in 1990, stronger language was needed. In
1994, AIRFA was amended to explicitly protect the ceremonial use of peyote for
members of federally recognized tribes.

However, this protection, while hard-won, is not without limitation. It excludes hundreds
of Indigenous communities who are not federally recognized, including groups in Mexico, such as the Wixárika (the original stewards of peyote) as well as many Native people
within the United States. In some cases, federal recognition itself has required tribes to
make profound concessions, including land and water rights. As a result, the legal
framework surrounding peyote remains both protective and incomplete.
After decades of arrests, court battles, and cultural misunderstanding the AIRFA victory
mattered deeply. So when people hear the words “decriminalization” next to peyote,
alarm bells ring. The fear is understandable.

If peyote becomes widely legal, demand could increase, markets could emerge, and
harvesting could intensify. Sacred medicine could become another commodity. Given
the history Indigenous communities have endured, that fear deserves respect, but there
is another reality quietly unfolding beneath the surface.

The Plant Is Disappearing

Peyote grows very slowly. In endemic habitats, it can take 10-20 years for a plant to
mature. For generations, most peyote used in ceremony has been harvested from
Mexico where 95% of peyote grows. But those landscapes have changed dramatically.
Habitat has been destroyed by development and mining companies. Land ownership
has shifted. Harvesting pressure has increased from criminality and the growing
population of NAC member of close to 500,000 members.

Today, many conservation scientists warn that wild peyote populations have
approached threatened status. We do not have time to argue over who "owns" peyote
while mining and development companies extract from the land. Here lies the painful
paradox. The current system meant to regulate peyote has not protected it. In fact, in
some ways it may be accelerating its decline.

Under federal law, peyote remains a Schedule I substance, which categorizes peyote
alongside drugs considered dangerous and without accepted medical use. Yet regulated
framework permits licensed peyoteros to harvest peyote from the wild for distribution to
Native American Church members. What that system does not include is a coordinated conservation strategy. For example, it does not require habitat restoration; it does not regulate how much is harvested relative to how much grows back, and it has historically discouraged cultivation or seed-based conservation projects. So the plant sits inside a strange contradiction. It is sacred and protected, yet it is slowly disappearing.

The Sacred Tension

This is the tension Leo and I have been talking about. Protection and preservation are
not always the same thing. When something sacred becomes rare, fear can lead us to
close the gates around it. That instinct is human. It comes from love. But this can also
create a market which allows increased prices due to criminality. But conservation biology tells us something important: species survive through stewardship, not isolation. Seeds must be planted, habitat must be restored, and communities must cooperate.

Leo put it plainly during one of our conversations: “There is no path to reversing this
desecration without land stewardship and seedling management.” He wasn’t talking
about commercialization or opening markets; he was talking about care.

What Decriminalize Nature Actually Stands For

There has been a great deal of misunderstanding about where the Decriminalize Nature
movement stands on this issue. So let me say this clearly.

That means ensuring laws written to protect peyote do not unintentionally criminalize
the very conservation work that could help the plant survive. It means steering people
toward other sustainable plant medicines that grow more quickly. It means
acknowledging that the future of this species will require cooperation across
communities from Indigenous leaders, conservationists, scientists, advocates, and
spiritual practitioners working together. Not against each other.

Why Arizona Matters

Arizona sits in a unique position because the climate allows peyote to grow naturally.
The legal framework in Arizona already contains some of the broadest protections for
good-faith religious practice in the country. That means Arizona could become
something rare in modern policy; a place where sacred tradition and ecological
stewardship move forward together.

A Small Seed

The tiny crowns sat quietly in the soil, absorbing sunlight the way peyote has for
thousands of years. And now, for the first time in its long history, the future of this species may depend not just on the desert, but on our ability to work together as
stewards. Not as enemies or competing ideologies.

The babies are growing. The real question is whether we are ready to grow with them.
Peyote is our grandfather and his wisdom was never meant to be barricaded through
fear or punishment, but honored and carried forward. Perhaps this is what is being
asked of us now.

Join The Psychedelic Writers Guild for a Denver Mixer on Thursday, April 9, hosted by Psychedelic State(s) of America, We Flow Yo, and TRiPS, & sponsored by BRĒZ, Work in Psychedelics, and Keef Cola!

Enjoy an evening of genuine connection and high vibes in an exclusive rooftop space with city views, sober vibes, and connections with fellow advocates in the psychedelic space near and far.

This event is open to psychedelic professionals including journalists, researchers, practioniers, small business owners, community activists, and allies.

Get on the list for ticketing info and location details.

📅 April 9th, 2026, 6:30 - 9:30 PM
🎟️ Learn more and Apply to Attend Here

Until next time,

The Psychedelic State(s) of America Team