OCR Text |
Show COMMISSIOiTER 05' INDIAN AFFAIRS. 33 of California, Montana, Washington, and Wisconsin had under con-sideration amendments to their present laws against the sale of liquor to Indians, and the Supreme Court of Washington rendered . a decision upholding the legality of the State law forbiddig the traffic. At Bad River, Wis., the Indians themselves!%ave taken a stand; their business council petitioned the city of Ashland to close certain saloons and to issue no new licenses. A relatively new intoxicant of a peculiarly insidious form has come into favor with Indians in many parts of the country. From a cactus growing wild in the arid regions of old Mexico just south of the Rio Grande the crown is cut off and dried, becoming the peyote bean of commerce. Among the tribes it is commonly known as mes-cal. As these beans sell for $3 or $4 a thousand, and three or four beans su5ce to give the full effects wf the intoxicating drug in peyote, indulgence is within the reack of all. The oEce has been gathering information from every available source concerning the effect of the peyote bean but still experiences some difficulty in getting complete information. Nevertheless, the information now at hand concerning the physiological and socio- - logical results of the use of this drug is such that the o5ce will in every way practicable prevent the Indians from indulging in it further. The physiological and toxic action of peyote places it in the same general class with opium, cocaine, Indian hemp, and chlo-ral hydrate. The alkaloids in peyote act upon the central nervous System. This action, if repeated, unquestionably results in a fixed habit. The normal functions of the human body can not be inter-' fered with at frequent intervals by such an agent as peyote without serious injury resulting. As used by the Indians, peyote is always taken in very considerable quantities, invariably su5cient to produce drug intoxication. Even if the physiological effects of this drug were not serious, its use would have to be prohibited for the same sociological reasons as have led the Government strongly but tactfully to modify Indian dances. As is well known, exercises which the Indians consider of a religious nature are made the occasion of taking the drug. These meetings are held as often as once a week and invariably last through-out the night. The time occupied in going to these meetings, the demoralizing effects of all-night seances, and consequent nervous languor and exhaustion, very considerably encroach upon the time that should normally be devoted to work. Furthermore, the effects of the d ~ ing ma king the Indian contented with his present attain-ments seriously interfere with his progress by cutting off from hi the possibility of healthful asoiration. |