Preparations from dried mescaline cactus powder

[fluid_lightning]

I am a cactus lover who recently heard that some cultures ate preparations of San Pedro and Peruvian Torch cacti. Cactus is very hard to consume and preserve, so I am running a thought experiment. As it is illegal to prepare these cacti for consumption where I live, I cannot explore this concept further than thought.

I can imagine that dried, powdered cacti will keep the longest, especially if the dried, powdered cacti was kept in a cold place. Drying and powdering would be a simple affair from what I have read:
1. Peel and take the stickers off of the the cactus.
2. Cut the cactus into slices.
3. Core the cactus.
4. Leave the cactus slices under a 100W bulb until the slices become dry chips.
5. Powder the chips in a dry coffee grinder.
6. Storage: Put the powder in a plastic bag. Vacuum sealers would make the powder keep for the longest.

Now that the powder has been prepared, this could probably be kept indefinately in dark, freezing, and air-tight conditions. While this method of keeping the cactus is nice, I wonder how one would prepare this powder for consumption in contrast with preparing fresh cactus. I bet that this powder would smell nasty and taste nastier than fresh cactus. I have read that 35g of dried peruvian torch or san pedro would be a similar dose to the traditional 18" of fresh cactus that some people in some countries might consume.

So, I am wondering if anyone has any thoughts or experiences with preparing dried cactus powder for consumption ? If so, I would love to hear your methods of preparation!

[Barebonejoe]

I talked to a cricket once who said the preperation is the same as the preperation involved with fresh cactus, EXCEPT he uses much more water to start out with. He said the consistency will let you know (keep adding water until it is more liquidy as opposed to slimey). Also, while straining to re-boil the powder, use a cotton shirt, or something similar, to sqeeze the liquid through.

So basically, the only difference is how you deal with the slimey...er consistency.