Military to allow American
Indians in Armed Service
to use peyote

Associated Press, 04/15/97 19:26

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) Marine Staff
Sgt. Shawn Arnold has spent the past 18 years
protecting the freedom of others but has been
banned from a practice that is central to his
religion.

That changed Tuesday when the military said it
will allow American Indian soldiers to use
peyote a plant with psychedelic properties
in their religious services.

``If they're using peyote in their religious
practice, it's a sacrament, not a drug, just as
sacramental wine is not considered a drug,''
said Air Force Maj. Monica Aloisio, a
Pentagon spokeswoman.

``This opens some doors for our church, and it
marks the first sanctioned use of a hallucinogen
by members of the armed forces,'' said Frank
Dayish, president of the Native American
Church of North America.

For Arnold, 38, the decision ends years of
pain.

``My record book says I can't go to church.
I've been threatened, two times, with
courtsmartial. I wake up every morning, and I
don't have that full feeling of freedom because I
have to consider that ... it could be this day that
they decide to prosecute me,'' said the platoon
commander stationed at the Marine base in
Quantico, Va.

The new policy applies to any of the 9,262
American Indians in the military 0.6 of its
population who use the drug to follow their
faith.

Peyote is a small cactus that grows naturally in
the Southwest. While it's illegal for most people
to use, federal law permits peyote use by the
250,000 members in 20 states of the Native
American Church.

The theology centers on the belief that peyote
brings peace of mind and heals illnesses if one
sincerely believes and concentrates.

Peyote is not addictive and doesn't cause
flashbacks. It is usually eaten but can be
smoked. Some people have hallucinations they
interpret as visions of truth.

The new guidelines, still in draft form, allow
American Indians who wish to enlist to answer
``No'' when asked if they have ever used
drugs.

Only enrolled members of Indian tribes may
use peyote, the guidelines say. It may not be
used, possessed or brought aboard military
vehicles, vessels, aircraft or onto military
installations without permission of the
installation commander.

Meanwhile, Chaplain Capt. Mel Ferguson,
executive director of the Armed Forces
Chaplain's Board, is giving chaplains a
goahead to let American Indians use peyote in
religious services.

``When people are allowed to practice their
faith and nourish the spiritual dimension of their
lives, that promotes and enhances military
readiness,'' he said.

The policy change stems from the 1994
American Indian Religious Freedom Act. In
1996, the Department of Defense began
rewriting its guidelines.

Historians say peyote has been used for at
least 10,000 years by tribes in North and
South America, sometimes to increase
adrenalin during battle. Some soldiers have
carried peyote ``buttons'' as wartime talismans.

``This peyote medicine, to use it right you have
to pray,'' said Yazzie King, a Native American
Church leader near the Rock Spring Chapter
on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico.
``This is not to be mixed up with marijuana,
cocaine, all those drugs.''

Related Stories:

Military Peyote

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