Update – March 2021

I am sorry it has taken me this long to address the supply of Pure Peyote. This past year has been challenging – for all of us.

Pure Peyote is not a business concern; it is a project of hope. But that still means I have a responsibility to be clear and timely so that you may plan for your lives and the lives of patients. I apologize.

Personally it is difficult, with friends getting sick and the loss of life in my community of Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Throughout, I have experienced a solidarity of kindness and generosity from almost everyone I meet. What an emotional time.

With respect to Pure Peyote two issues arose:

Facility

• I was sharing space in a facility with a company who has a much larger agricultural operation.
• At the start of Covid when things were unknown, access was restricted to a few key workers of the company.
• These workers had instructions regarding care of the peyote, but were not experienced with cacti.
• Unfortunately, the entire crop became infested with mites.
• By the time I was able to step in, I had to take strong measures in order to save the plants.
• While still using organic methods, I was unsure if the treatment had affected the peyote.

 Which leads to the second issue…

Testing Facility

• The testing facility I was using has changed ownership and will no longer will test peyote.
• This left me unable to ensure the efficacy and safety of the damaged plants.

1 . The plants have been rehomed as pets. Which surprisingly, has turned into its own healing situation.

2. I am building a dedicated growing facility. But of course, this will take time to build and to populate.

3. I am searching for a lab that will test for peyote compounds and purity.

4. I hope to offer an alternative in the near future that is similar to peyote. Something magical.

Thank you everyone who texted, emailed and called. You have been a lifeline that has encouraged me. I am grateful to hear from you and thank you for your kindness. Please know that, due to the privacy policies Pure Peyote adheres to, I do not keep the correspondence. I just read each one 100 times and then delete them :)

Oh no! an emoticon. That means it’s time for me to sign off.
Once I have more to report I will send out another update.

I hope you and all you love are safe and healthy.

I don’t know if any of you are following the new businesses that are soliciting licensing for lab created psychedelics. Of course substances such as MDMA and LSD are lab developed. But the creation of synthetic mescaline and psilocybin, which these businesses are doing, is not the direction I had hoped research would pursue.

When the universe gives us plants and fungi that offer medicinal dosages without alteration, extraction or processing, I find it hard to reconcile that anyone would use artificial mechanisms and attempt to replicate these compounds.

Some cite testing, but surely we can test the biological organism to create standardized dosages. Some cite that only individual mescaline and psilocybin type compounds are required; I believe a holistic approach encompassing the entire natural organism is more progressive and balanced.

These businesses will be launching IPOs and money will be made. At what expense?

I have spent many years in the medicinal mushroom industry where medicinal dosages are achieved through processing into extracts. I know the danger of toxins, heavy metals and chemicals, such as the ever-increasing issue of phthalates in supplements, resulting from refined production.

The fact that we have been gifted healing plants and fungi that require no processing is a beautiful thing. The fact that some will be reducing them to pharmaceutical single synthetic compounds does not create the healing setting I envision for all aspects of our health.

Dosages are personal choices. The ever differing protocols that people keep writing about drive me crazy. This is about you and your experience. In my experience I have taken the same nightly magical dosage since 2013. There has been no tolerance build-up. I do not take them with the latest trending mushroom (lion’s mane at the time of writing and before that it was cordyceps, before that chaga…). If I miss a night it’s no big deal. I do not keep a schedule. I listen to myself and dose accordingly.

Recently I heard an expert talking about micro-dosing being for those who are afraid to take a ‘real’ trip. My stance is that both, and everything in between, are healing, legitimate and have their purposes. I do not condone shaming people about doing what works best for them. And speaking of real… ‘start low, go slow’ is a good mantra for anyone beginning their time with psychedelics.

So, be kind to each other, let each person discover their way and even though we are in this together – to share, to learn, to heal – each one of us has our own unique story, our own special journey. And that’s the magic.