Michael Pollan thinks the War on Drugs is just about over. And, the Drugs won. Many states have de-crimalized marijuana, others have legalized it for “recreational” use. In This is Your Mind on Plants, Pollan writes about his experiences with opioids, caffeine, and mescaline (and other psychedelic drugs).
I first used opioids after my first total knee replacement surgery. I was prescribed hydrocodone and it did its magic in helping me manage the post-surgery pain and physical therapy during my Rehab. The addictive aspects of the drug were well known so I careful regulated my dosage and slowly tapered off. Some of the other patients in Rehab didn’t and got “hooked.”
Pollan shows how to grow your own supply of opium in your garden. Opium has a long history and it can be helpful in medicine…and it can be dangerous.
Jeff Meyerson, in his comment yesterday, wondered: “I don’t get how people drink that stuff all day every day.” As Pollan points out, caffeine is addictive (but not as addictive as opioids). When coffee drinkers stop drinking coffee, all the withdrawal symptoms kick in: headaches, fatigue, lethargy, nausea, body aches, difficulty concentrating, decreased motivation, and irritability. On the plus side, having a coffee addition improves focus, motivation, and productivity. Other health aspects like protecting against certain cancers, diabetes, and Parkinson’s factor in, too.
One of Deb’s favorite writers, Honore de Balzac, wrote about the effect drinking coffee had on his writing: “From that moment on, everything becomes agitated. Ideas quick-march into motion like battalions of a grand army to its legendary fighting ground, and the battle rages. Memories charge in, bright flags on high; the cavalry of metaphor deploys with a magnificent gallop, the artillery of logic rushes up with clattering wagons and carriages; on imagination’s orders, sharpshooters sight and fire; forms and shapes and characters read up; the paper is read with ink…” (p. 113)
While I use opioids and caffeine, I have never used psychedelic drugs like mescaline (or LSD or psilocybin). Pollan describes his “trip” on mescaline. I’m wary of mind-altering drugs like psychedelics. I like my mind just fine as it is.
If you’re interested in the history and future of opioids, caffeine and mescaline, I encourage to take a look at Pollan’s This Is Your Mind on Plants. There’s a lot to consider here. What do you think of opioids, caffeine, and psychedelics? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
INTRODUCTION — 1
OPIUM — 13
Prologue — 15
“Opium, Made Easy” — 21
Epilogue — 83
CAFFEINE — 89
MESCALINE — 161
- The Door in the Wall –163
- The Orphan Psychedelic — 166
- In Which We Meet the Cacti — 174
- The Birth of a New Religion — 187
- Peeking Inside the Tepee — 199
- An Interlude: On Mescaline — 214
- Learning from San Pedro — 223
- Drunk at the Wheel — 228
- Plan C — 230
Acknowledgements — 249
Selected Bibliography — 253
Index — 259