Essay On Native American Drugs

The use of drugs by Native American Indians is a prevalent issue in today’s society and by looking at the history of these drugs we can find out why this problem remains (“Native American Drug Use Highest Among Teens, New Study Finds,” 1). There are three main drugs that American Indians used before European settlers began their voyages to America. They are, coca leaves, peyote, and tobacco. These three main drugs all have early origins among the American Indian people and are used as stimulants providing a high with the correct dosage. The first records we have of these drugs being used are when Columbus received gifts from the Native Americans containing tobacco (“The History of Tobacco,” 1). While Columbus receiving gifts from the Indians containing tobacco is the first record of Native Americans having drugs, we can assume they used and possessed these drugs before 1492. Coca leaves are leaves grown that produce the drug cocaine. The coca leave itself is usually chewed or made into a tea. High dosages are needed to produce a true high that would alter the mind of the user. American Indians used these plants as drugs by either chewing or making tea out of (“History and Uses of the Coca Leaf,” 1). Coca Leaves is a drug used as a stimulant but it also has other benefits such as, nutritional, medicinal, and religious …show more content…
Jay Fikes writes, “From the very beginning, immigrants to the New World have misunderstood the Native American adoration of peyote” (“A Brief History of the Native American Church,” 1). Some of the first immigrants to the Americas, after they took power, outlawed the use of Peyote by the Indians citing that it was being used for anti-Christian ceremonies that summon demons to the New World. After Peyote was banned, any Indian found still using the drug for religious or any other purposes was tortured and killed (“History of the Peyote Cactus and the Native American Church,”