DATE: Thursday, April 17, 1997              TAG: 9704170345

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: LOS ANGELES TIMES

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   35 lines

PENTAGON CONSIDERS PEYOTE IN MILITARY RELIGIOUS RITES NATIVE AMERICANS WOULD BE ALLOWED TO USE THE DRUG.

Military personnel of American Indian descent will be allowed to use the hallucinogenic plant peyote in religious services under a draft rule proposed by the Pentagon.

The rule would apply to more than 9,200 military members who belong to the Native American Church. Until now they have been subject to court-martial or lesser punishment for what they describe as the sacred sacrament of a 10,000-year-old faith.

The draft rule would bar use or possession of the cactus' ``buttons'' on military vehicles, aircraft and ships. It would permit such use on military bases if the soldier has the consent of the commanding officer.

``We've allowed people to have free speech, even to burn the flag,'' said Marine Staff Sgt. Shawn Arnold, a Navajo church member stationed at Quantico Base in Virginia. ``But for Native Americans, the military has not been sympathetic.''

Peyote, drawn from the top, or button, of the peyote cactus, contains the drug mescaline, which distorts what the user sees and hears. The drug can amplify the emotions and cause the user to see bright colors and, in some cases, objects that aren't there.

Peyote is used by the Native American Church, which has about 250,000 members, in rituals that customarily occur between sundown and sunrise. The buttons are sliced and eaten, or drunk as tea.

Adherents say peyote gives them peace of mind and insight into the spiritual world. KEYWORDS: DRUGS ILLEGAL PEYOTE U.S. MILITARY

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