Peyote is a small, spineless cactus. Mescaline is a hallucinogenic substance found within the Peyote cactus. Mescaline can be taken from the Peyote cactus or created synthetically.
Throughout history, Peyote and Mescaline have been used by natives in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States as a part of traditional religious rites.
Mescaline as also known as:
The hallucinogenic effects last about 12 hours.
The effects can cause a chemically induced model of mental illness.
It is not considered an addictive drug like cocaine, heroin, or alcohol because it does not produce the same compulsive drug-seeking behavior.
However, like addictive drugs, mescaline produces greater tolerance in some users who take the drug repeatedly. These users must take higher doses to achieve the same results as they have had in the past.
This could be an extremely dangerous practice because of the unpredictability of the drug effect on an individual.
Last Reviewed: October 2013