From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs

From Chocolate to Morphine: Everything You Need to Know About Mind-Altering Drugs
by Andrew Weil

I just finished reading From chocolate to morphine by Andrew Weil. I was quite disappointed to find out after purchasing the book, that it was extremely basic and simplistic. My bad, didn't read enough reviews.

But more disappointed I was to find much, at least to my mind, doubtful information. Hope that I'm wrong, since this otherwise looks very appealing book to anyone absolute newbie wanting to get some unbiased information.

First of all the big lines about drugs dangers. Well, this is more like a question, as I'm not sure wheter my idea of the relative dangers is correct. Alcohol and tobacco were propably demonized a bit, even to my mind. I doubt if it's reasonable to say that "It isn't uncommon for drunk people to kill friends or relatives and have no memory of these events next day...". Sure, it's the reason or contributing factor in vast majority of murders etc, but I think it's use is still so common that it is quite uncommon to commit a murder.

On the other hand it might this might be ok as even chocolate is ie said to make people addicted and some trying desperately kick the addiction. Some are even in rehabilitation. So percpective seems quite right, but then again, I think datura is presented as overly safe in relation. It is stated that occasional use of it propably isn't a healt risk. My understanding(never tried it) is that it is unpredictable, and has low ratio of ED/LD, making it poisonous and unpredictable. Lower, I think, than alcohol, wich is still stated to be most poisonous substance in this book without question.

An average cigar contains enough nicotine to kill several people.

Quick check on the wikipedia reveals that 40-60mg can be lethal dose for humans. Tobacco usually has below 1mg of nicotine, so this is absolute nonsense, unless that 0,8mg means the amount of nicotine that survives to youre bloodstream; great majority of it is destroyed by flame.

Also I don't know why he choosed to divide psychedelics to "Indole hallucinogens" and "Hallucinogens related to Adrenaline and Amphetamines", instead of using Phenetylamines. Or would they cover all of those related to adrenaline and amphetamines? My knowledge in chemistry is really basic indeed.

Even strongest varieties seem to lose their power if people smoke them day in and day out.

I haven't smoked it every day for long periods, so I wouldn't know. What do you people say?

Including PCP and Ketamine but dealing with DXM only in one paragraph under the OTC Preparations and subtitle Cough syrups is a mistake. It could be, as some other problems, because of this book was first written in some twenty years earlier and edited in 2004.

That addiction to DMT and 5-MeO-DMT is unknown due in part to the rapid development of tolerance for their interesting effects. When smoked regularly, they soon become ineffective.

That's a fat lie. DMT is (almost) unique in that human studie's haven't even been able to demonstrade tolerance. It was hard even in animals, gived full dose every two hours, 24 hours a day for 22 days. I don't know where he got this.

Also, the book stated that salvia's pharmakological mechanism was completely unknown. That might be too because of the books first version was released in the 80's. Now it is known to bind to kappa opioid receptor, but why do it have such a mystical and even psychedelic effect remains a mystery. It doesn't seem to have anything common with the opiaites, and it certainly isn't classified as one.

This isn't a book review, so don't get the wrong picture about all my complaining. This book is still reliable about the big picture, at least unbiased if not even pro-drug at it's uproach. It's highly recommended to people new to this subject. Everything is been made very simple and it doesn't go very deep ie in pharmakology or history, first one it doesn't deal with at all. But for members of the forum, there's nothing to learn.