Native man with peyote arrested on warrants

886
Shaun Benally (PCSO photo)

A native man was arrested in Maricopa on April 5 for possession of a rare psychedelic drug, according to a Maricopa Police Department report.

The man, 36-year-old Shaun Benally, was contacted by police after reportedly being “aggressive toward citizens,” near Bashas’ on John Wayne Parkway, the report said.

Officers arrested Benally after an ID check revealed he had four outstanding warrants – two from the city of Maricopa for failure to appear, and two extraditable warrants out of New Mexico.

MPD spokesman Ricardo Alvarado said a subsequent search of his person revealed a dried green substance an arresting officer initially mistook for marijuana.

Another Maricopa officer with extensive experience working with native communities in the Southwest indicated the substance was likely the hallucinogenic cactus known as peyote.

A sample of the substance was sent to the Arizona Department of Public Safety lab to be tested. However, before results came back, Benally admitted the substance was in fact peyote.

The small spineless cactus has been used for millennia as a spiritual sacrament by several native groups in the southwest United States and northern Mexico, and both federal and state law permit its ceremonial use by card-carrying members of Native American tribes.

In Arizona, there is no limitation as to which tribes can hold ceremonies using peyote. Its recreational use is, however, prohibited even among tribal members.

Despite being of Native ancestry, Alvarado said, Benally did not claim to be using the substance for any ceremonial purpose.

Alvarado said it is somewhat rare to find someone using peyote, either ceremonially or recreationally, though it is usually obvious if they are using it for a religious purpose or not.

“If someone were using it for a ceremony, a burial or a wake, it would look like it was a ceremonial purpose,” Alvarado said. “Even then, we would have to determine if they were a registered tribal member.”

Possession of peyote for non-ceremonial use is a class 6 felony in Arizona, punishable by one year in prison.