In an example of modern science catching up to ancient wisdom, researchers have found that Native Americans who use peyote as a regular part of their religious practices show no evidence of brain damage or psychological problems.Quite the contrary, these individuals scored higher on several indicators of mental health than members of the same tribe who did not use peyote and who were not members of the Native American Church.Navajo experts expressed delight at the findings."It’s heartwarming,” said Victor J. Clyde, a judge with the Arizona state courts and vice president of the Native American Church of North America. “Our elders told us that this beauty is good for us, and will never do us harm. The government never really took their word, and even prohibited peyote for a while."The authors of the study, appearing in the Nov. 4 issue of Biological Psychiatry and partially funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, cautioned, however, that this does not mean that peyote is necessarily good for everybody in all situations.
