This is Your Mind on Plants

This is Your Mind on Plants
By Michael Pollan
Penguin Press, 2021. 352 pages. Nonfiction

Bestselling author Michael Pollan discusses three mind-altering natural substances found in plants: opium, caffeine, and mescaline.  Each drug is discussed from different angle and contexts, historical use and significance, and impact in the world today.  In the case of each, the author's overall goal is to explore the powerful human attraction to and relationship with psychoactive plants.

Rather than being a cohesive whole, this is more a compilation of three lengthy essays on each topic, but each one has a fascinating story to tell.  Starting with poppy growing and the lost practice of of opium brewing, Pollan shares his personal experiences with growing this controversial flower, and his resulting paranoia once he investigated the legal ramifications of doing so.  The section on caffeine includes the author's own experiences with abstaining and then re-introducing caffeine into his system, and its use by humans over the past several centuries.  Finally, he investigates how mescaline is used in religious Native American ceremonies today.  Those who enjoyed Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind will find interesting stories here, as will anyone with an interest in natural science writing and journalism.

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BHG