You might be interested in On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail. It also deals with the role of psychotropic drugs in human history and how drugs define a particular society. I found it fascinating.
Thanks for that, I’ve been looking for a good book to read. How drugs define a culture? That is a great topic. Opioids (both prescribed and prohibited) and current Western culture, a culture where it is mostly illegal, and seriously criminally so, to pick and partake in psychotropic plants, which have been used that way for millennia. How did we arrive here? That’s what interests me.
I don't know if you remember this, but the news media had some articles about an academic study done about 15 years ago which looked at which substances were the worst in terms to harm to self and harm to others (and therefore harm to society). I remember that the rankings shocked me. Here's a BBC article on it with a great graph showing the rankings -- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11660210
I do remember that study. Someone else mentioned it to me recently. It is indeed very revealing. Every thing seems upside down. The most harmful drugs legal and readily available, and the most insightful, least harmful natural plants are the most illegal. Something’s going on. Those deep insights, available to everyone, seem to have the establishment terrified.
If you're ever interested in doing an ayahuasca session in the UK, I would recommend Anna Hunt who is a bona fide shaman trained in Peru. I did one with her and it was startlingly effective.
Thanks for that list. Will check them out.
You might be interested in On Deep History and the Brain by Daniel Lord Smail. It also deals with the role of psychotropic drugs in human history and how drugs define a particular society. I found it fascinating.
Thanks for that, I’ve been looking for a good book to read. How drugs define a culture? That is a great topic. Opioids (both prescribed and prohibited) and current Western culture, a culture where it is mostly illegal, and seriously criminally so, to pick and partake in psychotropic plants, which have been used that way for millennia. How did we arrive here? That’s what interests me.
I don't know if you remember this, but the news media had some articles about an academic study done about 15 years ago which looked at which substances were the worst in terms to harm to self and harm to others (and therefore harm to society). I remember that the rankings shocked me. Here's a BBC article on it with a great graph showing the rankings -- https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-11660210
I do remember that study. Someone else mentioned it to me recently. It is indeed very revealing. Every thing seems upside down. The most harmful drugs legal and readily available, and the most insightful, least harmful natural plants are the most illegal. Something’s going on. Those deep insights, available to everyone, seem to have the establishment terrified.
If you're ever interested in doing an ayahuasca session in the UK, I would recommend Anna Hunt who is a bona fide shaman trained in Peru. I did one with her and it was startlingly effective.
https://www.annahunt.com/workshops-1