We want to share with you some of the work which we were able to accomplish during the year thanks to your belief in our mission.

•   We launched a four-year study on the effects of harvesting on regrowth and mortality of peyote in habitat in South Texas. (See the first data we collected after months 8 & 12. The 2009 one-year follow-up data includes photos.)



•   We designed studies on the cultivation of peyote in habitat and in the greenhouse. The greenhouse study will be started in 2009.



•   We acquired a reference sample of pellotine through the generosity of Vlastimil Habermann.
    For those who may be unfamiliar with the conservation significance of pellotine, the published analytical work on the non-williamsii species of Lophophora indicates that pellotine replaces mescaline as the major alkaloid, and that mescaline occurs only in trivial, pharmacologically insignificant concentrations in those species, or is not present at all. The implication is that the non-williamsii species in Mexico (also locally known as peyote) should not be harvested, as they are not effective sources of mescaline.
    In order to confirm the accuracy of those earlier analytical reports a known reference sample of pure pellotine was required as a GCMS standard.



Additionally:
    •   We provided pro bono regulatory consulting services to a Native American Church group as they applied to the DEA for guidelines that would allow them to cultivate their sacrament in the greenhouse.



•   This past year has been a time of broadening communications and increasing visibility for the CCI. This website has attracted many inquiries, and we have been interviewed for articles in the popular press – including stories in Reuters (December of 2007) and the Time website – and for radio programs on NPR.