Revista de Arqueología Americana
July 10, 2026
Stacy B. Schaefer
Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) is a psychoactive cactus central to religious beliefs, healing practices, and transformative experiences among Indigenous peoples of Mexico and North America. The Wixárika (Huichol) have the longest known continuous use, while the Native American Church's practices in the US and parts of Canada developed more recently. This article reviews peyote's botany, chemistry, medicinal qualities, ecology, archaeology, history, and religious practices, presenting Indigenous knowledge, rituals, and adaptation to change. It concludes by discussing the alarming scarcity of peyote and conservation efforts to protect the plant's future.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Schüller Thomas
A transdisciplinary monograph examines the cultivated psychoactive mushroom as a case of access reorganization, comparing it with peyote. The work argues that the regulation and cultural framing of these substances reshape who can access them and under what conditions, thereby reorganizing social and legal boundaries. The analysis draws on psychoanalysis and social critique to explore themes of closure, the fall of man, and therapeutic applications. The author presents this as a theoretical and philosophical paper, not an empirical study, and offers a bilingual (German and English) account funded privately and licensed under Creative Commons.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
July 1, 2026
Schüller Thomas
Mescaline is the only phenethylamine among the classic psychedelics, with the lowest affinity for the 5-HT2A receptor, requiring the highest doses (hundreds of milligrams) and producing a dose-dependent duration of 6.4 to 14 hours. Clinical research is the weakest strand: as of 2026, no adequate randomized controlled trial exists. In the ecologically bound case of peyote, the logic of dispossession reverses compared to synthetic substances like LSD and psilocybin. The work elevates Discipline 8 (Law/Society) to address peyote conservation (IUCN 'vulnerable') and Indigenous rights (Native American Church, AIRFA 1994) as a standalone discipline.
Bulletin of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Assiut University
May 26, 2026
R. Shafik, N. Eshba, M. El-Semary et al.
Researchers designed new chemical compounds that combine features of mescaline and phencyclidine (PCP) to explore their potential interaction with PCP receptors in rat brains. The proposed molecules are structural hybrids, including variants with an N-(2-chloroethyl) group that could allow them to bind permanently to receptors. However, the actual effects of mescaline and the potential blocking activity of these new compounds at central PCP receptors have not yet been tested.
Neuroscience Bulletin
May 21, 2026
Noah Cavallaro, Priya Rai, David Akins et al.
Mescaline, a psychedelic used ceremonially for thousands of years, produces distinct brain effects that differ from LSD and psilocybin. In awake rats, mescaline suppressed BOLD signal in the cerebellum, suggesting it disconnects this region from forebrain areas. However, resting-state scans showed the cerebellum became hyperconnected to the hippocampus, thalamus, somatosensory cortex, and midbrain. Mescaline also eliminated normal brain responses to rewarding smells, indicating disrupted sensory processing. Acoustic startle tests revealed frequency-dependent effects: enhancement at 4 kHz (+27.6%) and 20 kHz (+27.3%), but impairment at 12 kHz (-16.4%). The cerebellum may act as a dysregulated sensory filter, flooding forebrain circuits with unprocessed information, potentially explaining psychedelic-induced perceptual changes.
Fa yi xue za zhi
April 25, 2026
Ruidi Shen, Zhenhua Qian
Abuse of mescaline and its analogues, a class of phenethylamine compounds often overlooked, has gradually increased worldwide. This review covers their basic information, pharmacological and toxicological properties, and detection methods, aiming to guide future research and provide references for forensic examination involving these substances.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
March 28, 2026
Jonathan Shaw, Aidan Yong, Jacky Lee et al.
Mescaline, the main active compound in Peyote and San Pedro cactus, has a long history in traditional medicine and is gaining renewed clinical interest. A systematic review of 2770 references found only 10 studies suitable for analysis. Reported therapeutic effects included improvements in depression, well-being, nicotine dependence, alcohol use, and obsessions. Bayesian analysis showed frequently reported side effects like hypertension, headache, nausea, and vomiting. The existing literature is limited and highly variable, preventing firm conclusions about mescaline's psychological and somatic effects. More research is needed on its safety. Collaboration between the Native American Church and hospitals is recommended to create a registry for standardized data collection on mescaline's effects in prevalent populations.
February 28, 2026
Burton J. Tabaac, Kenneth Shinozuka, Fadel et al.
preprint
Mescaline, a classic serotonergic psychedelic used ceremonially by Indigenous peoples, shows preliminary safety in healthy humans under controlled conditions, producing dose-dependent subjective effects with moderate, transient autonomic stimulation and no serious medical complications. Adverse effects are generally self-limited, and pooled safety analyses and observational data support an overall favorable safety profile in screened populations. However, there is a lack of controlled clinical trials evaluating mescaline in patient populations, so its safety in individuals with cardiovascular, metabolic, or psychiatric comorbidities remains unclear. Controlled clinical trials are needed to establish its safety and therapeutic potential.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
January 28, 2026
Irina Terekhova
Since the mid-nineteenth century, scientists have considered psychedelics as models for psychosis, with early twentieth-century experiments testing this idea. Debate continues over whether certain drugs specifically induce schizophrenia-like states. Early mescaline research at prominent institutions, inspired by Hans Prinzhorn's work on 'schizophrenic masters,' included 1938 experiments by psychiatrists Eric Guttmann and Walter Maclay, who took the drug and had artists depict their altered perceptions. In the 1950s, mescaline was used to study schizophrenia. Henri Michaux, under clinical supervision, produced writings and drawings from mescaline experiences that resembled but differed significantly from schizophrenic creative outputs. This historical analysis highlights differences in lived experiences and artistic expressions between schizophrenia and mescaline-induced states.
Neuropharmacology
October 15, 2025
Marion Hendrickx, Antoine Dampierre, Emmanuel Drouin
1 citation
In 1930, four years before their official publication, psychiatrists Henri Claude and Henri Ey treated a patient, Madame Louise Françoise R., with mescaline at Sainte-Anne hospital in Paris. They administered subcutaneous injections of 20-40 mg, doses now considered sub-threshold, far below the later recognized effective range of 250-500 mg. The experiment was exploratory, using mescaline as a functional probe to observe psychopathological mechanisms rather than as a cure. The patient experienced colored visions, depersonalization, and the observation that "mescaline releases but does not create fantasies." A few days later, she received malariotherapy, an archetypal shock therapy, which was followed by clinical improvement.