Talks more about his religion and non-native use:

I have friends in the Church who have invited non-Indians to ceremonies. Most people in my congregation do not seem to mind and the new initiates typically walk away feeling that their life has been changed for the better. We've had college professors, Santa Fe City Counselors, and even two Law Enforcement Officials participate in our ceremonies. Since we hold our meeting on a federally recognized Indian Reservation (sovereign land) we are not within the jurisdiction of regular law enforcement. We are under the auspices of Tribal Police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Still, it's uncommon that we invite people in, as we do not wish to jeopardize our congregation. New Mexico is unique insomuch as STATE LAW recognizes the right of all people (regardless of race) to utilize Peyotyl for bona fide religious reasons. New Mexico is very progressive in that regard. Still, FEDERAL LAW does not recognize this basic right of all peoples and the FEDS will prosecute, despite the STATE's stance on the issue. Federal Law supercedes State Law in the courts, unfortunately. The State's protection can only go so far, but may aid in one's defense, should it come to that. The legal system is very contradictory and makes absolutely NO sense, any way you slice it. Personally I am reluctant to invite non-Indians into our congregation... not because I want to keep them out... it's just that I fear that the Authorities will use this as a pretense to try and take away Native American's hard-won right to use this sacrament (rather than make legal for ALL citizens, like they should). But, there are Churches that are open to all peoples (regardless of race), such as the Peyote Way Church of God. Affiliation with them does not guarantee the right to legally use peyote... it's more or less a political statement in support of the 1st Amendment right to freedom of religion. If a non-native were ever "busted" for using or growing peyote, such an affiliation may well come in handy when putting together a viable defense, as it would show a jury that you had publicly announced that you are pursuing the use of peyote on religious grounds. That would reinforce your "sincerity". In a jury's eyes, this may qualify you as a "bona fide peyotist", rather than a "drug user" and they may find you NOT GUILTY of drug possession. Your "intentions" do matter to the courts when it comes to peyote. Despite this crazy drug war, people on juries have been able to distinguish between sincere religious explorers and chemical-heads. Of course, the hope is that eventually the society-at-large will come to recognize the right to cognitive liberty that everyone deserves. The funny thing about peyote is this... hard-core drug & liquor abusers who have tried it (to "get high") have always walked away from the experience "transformed"!!! It is not at all uncommon for alcoholics and even heroin abusers to stop using their drug of choice altogether after just one experience with peyote! Often they will never even want to use peyote again. The peyote healed them of their sickness and showed them the proper path! Peyote is not for everyone, but if you use it even just once, it will change your life forever. Some walk the Road all of their lives... others learn everything that they need to know in only one ceremony. But, again, I digress....

So, the short answer is... either make a close personal friend with a Native American who is involved with the NAC, join the Peyote Way Church Of God (or a similar organization), or quietly and discreetly grow the sacrament yourself and create your own rituals that are based in sincerity, integrity, and love. Of course the latter idea is illegal in America if you are white, so of course I cannot condone that suggestion.... it's just a hypothetical idea (wink).

On the spirit of the peyote plant:

These entities have evolved and developed over millennia in a land that is parched by thirst for months/years on end, only to be inundated by the great Male Rains called "Vergas" in spring and fall. The thunderstorms roll in during monsoon season and pound the land with heavy rains that fill the arroyos with walls of liquid earth... a river of red cement that can sweep men and livestock to their deaths. It's a land of extremes... roasting during the heat of noon, freezing cold by moonlight. The enormous anvil-shaped clouds can drop 10 inches of rain in four hours... the ground is so dry that it literally explodes with each gravid drop of rain. The very next morning the desert will have sprung to life with rich green leaves and flower blossoms of every shade and hue. All life takes advantage of this sudden, violent abundance of water, for it will all be gone within the month... probably less. The winds will again shift, and the dry air from the northwest will wick what little moisture is left from the soil. The sun will drink what the sky and wind has left behind. Then, the only water to be found will be the water that the plants have stored within their own bodies... some hide it beneath the soil in fat succulent taproots... others protect it beneath a thick cuticle of waxy skin that is shaded and cooled by long sharp spines. These same spines discourage the animals who would make use of the treasure of moisture hidden within the bitter tissues of these miraculous plants. Peyotyl, without protective spines, relies on the bitter alkaloids produced within its flesh to discourage predation. Or... perhaps it offers itself up without defense to those who would better know the nature of God. It offers up its own flesh that people may take up its spirit and know its secrets, if only for a little while. The spirit of the desert... the spirit of peyote dwells within our hearts and mind for but a moment... then heads on its way to rejoin eternity. It illuminates the path that we will all be taking eventually. Peyote pulls back the veil and reveals the nature and truth of death... it reveals the nature and truth of life. It awakens us to the immediate experience of living in a temporal universe. Here, in this mental space, time is not measured by the ticking away of mechanical hands around a dial... no, time moves at the speed of life. When you are awakened to the nature of your life, you pay attention to the ebb and flow of real time. Time becomes the experience of change... moment to moment... becomes, one continuous moment... an eternal moment, an eternal vortex of change. Everything that has ever been and ever will be is here right now... it all exists here with us in this same point of space and time... everything is happening simultaneously... time is just the reeling out of these changes in a way that our minds can understand. Our lives ARE our perceptions. When our time comes and our eyes and ears have stopped seeing and hearing... when our bones have become rich loam from which green things emerge... then we shall rejoin the great simultaneous glory of eternity.... each of us encompassing the whole of creation as one great thought... one shared idea... we will know that this IS. Creation IS. The universe IS... and we are all one and the same. WE ARE ALL THE SAME PERSON.