Only correct way of treating  endangered  species is what Australia  did to wollemi pine. To protect  it they mass produced plants and sold them both protecting wild ones but also ensuring species will be propegated

Here in the Czech Republic is a huge community of cacti fans, considering the size of the country, and they get quite outraged by the bans of seeds. Many of them visit the cacti in habitat and take photos, often see destruction of those habitats by agriculture or the locals selling rare plants to China, and the obvious step would be to propagate the plants in cultivation to conserve the species. But that needs considerable genetic variety, that is, getting more seeds from the original country. But often, it is not allowed. And they, the devoted fans who would sooner chop off their hands then plunder and destroy a cactus habitat, are being abused by officials for collecting a few seeds.

human destroys. but they forget that human can also save an entire species from extinction

THe people making the laws are not botanists.It's like having an engineer in charge of music.

The whole peyote situation is wild. Im in south texas right in the natural range of peyote and other cacti like Astrophytum asterias but i have never seen any of them in the wild. From the pov of someone living in its natural range in south texas, the biggest threat to peyote and other plants is land development. Its crazy its just unbelievable how bad the bulldozing of these habutats is getting. I'd recommend watching crime pays but botany doesnt's videos talking about south texas.  He explains everything just how its happening down here.

When it’s about conservation of an endangered plant the country might as well get involved, build or hire a tissue culture company, and sell those lab grown clones abroad to help fund the actual conservation.
It destroys the illegal market, doesn’t harm their conservation efforts, and gives them funds.

There are ZERO correlations between the legality and lethality of any federally scheduled substances.

In the 1990s I bought cacti and succulents from a woman who had an enormous setup in Watsonville, California. On one visit she told me that she'd just sold a large number of San Pedro cacti to the U.S. Army for ornamental purposes on a base. She said "the subject of other uses wasn't discussed" with a laugh.

The Mexico law isn’t for conservation, but because they want royalties if a plant originated in their country.

Wow! It's crazy watching This video from Mexico and seeing many plants that are really common here not only in collections and stores but also in the wild, we see them in every landscape!

That's always the funny thing about laws. If there's no meaningful way to enforce them, they're just ornamental. Not that it ever stopped a bureaucrat though.

Right on point! The funny irony of laws and bureaucracy is that they always hinder the wrong people. The cactus enthusiast community in the Czech Republic has a genuine passion for protecting endangered species through propagation, but the laws prevent them from collecting seeds and leave the original habitats destroyed due to farming or greed. The Australian example with the "Wollemi Pine" is the ideal model to follow for nature conservation: extensive commercial propagation that protects the wild and ensures the species' survival. Laws should support nature enthusiasts, not fight them! Humans are capable of repairing what they have destroyed, if only the officials would stop pursuing the honest! 🌲🌵 Pine.

All the ban has to do is make it significantly cheaper to get seeds and plants from cultivation than by poaching.

Licensing is a preferable means  of control and conservation than blanket banning.

Psycho- active  is illegal , whereas psycho-  inactivity is the norm and cause of most suffering  !

They hate us for our freedom 😂😂😂

Just got an Astrophytum Medusa 2 weeks ago and had absolutely no clue there was any legality behind it like that so thank you for updating my horticulture knowledge

TBH laws like that are stupid for this very reason instead the ban should only be on collecting plants from the wild but should allow sellers to grow and propagate them in cuktivation which would in turn reduce or outright stop the poaching of these plants from their native habitat.

Ate peyote once in San Francisco. It was 1971. After removing the strychnine we ate it with strawberries to help cover the taste. My friend insisted we go for ice cream and I don’t go out in public like that, so I stayed in the car and watched the traffic signals melt. That’s all I remember.

I wonder if the reason for some of the restrictions is actually an attempt to avoid altering ecosystems with  invasive species?

Here in the US, when you RV into California, they'll sometimes check your RV to make sure you're not bringing in any potentially invasive produce/plants.