Pollan discusses 3 mind-altering plant products: opium, caffeine and mescaline from the poppy, coffee and mescaline cactus respectively. Part is scientific - what makes these plants do what they do? But part is also political and how governments (especially the USA government) have dealt with mind altering plants.
How I discovered it
I read Michael Pollens other books about nutrition and food and really enjoyed them.
How the book changed me
This made me realy think about why Jehovah created certain plants that have mind-altering side effects. Are we using them wrong? We use caffeine all the time - is that what He had in mind for coffee? and how about the poppy plant? Why do we say coffee is ok, but opium is not?