Product Description

From caffeine-dependent goats to nectar addicted ants, the animal kingdom offers amazing examples of wild animals and insects seeking out and consuming the psychoactive substances in their environments. Author Giorgio Samorini explores this little-known phenomenon and suggests that, far from being confined to humans, the desire to experience altered states of consciousness is a natural drive shared by all living beings and that animals engage in these behaviours deliberately. Rejecting the Western cultural assumption that using drugs is a negative action or the result of an illness, Samorini opens our eyes to the possibility that beings who consume psychedelics - whether humans or animals - contribute to the evolution of their species by creating entirely new patterns of behaviour that eventually will be adopted by other members of that species. The author's fascinating accounts of mushroom-loving reindeer, intoxicated birds, and drunken elephants ensure that readers will never view the animal world in quite the same way again. - Throws out behaviourist theories that claim animals have no consciousness. - Offers a completely new understanding of the role psychedelics play in the development of consciousness in all species. - Reveals drug use to be a natural instinct.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #505298 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-09
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .35" h x 5.44" w x 8.22" l, .32 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 1 pages

Review
"Samorini offers support for not only the theory of a biological basis of the pursuit of altered states, but also the possibility that this activity may expand the behavioral repertoire, thus altering evolution. Provocative reading."

Julie Holland, MD Editor, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Bellevue Psychiatric Emergency Department
Samorini offers support for the possibility that this activity may expand the behavioral repertoire, thus altering evolution. Provocative reading.

About the Author
Ethnobotanist and ethnomycologist Giorgio Samorini has studied the use of psychoactive substances for more than 20 years, conducting research in Africa, Latin America, India, and Europe. He is editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Eleusis, Plants and Psychoactive Compounds. He lives in Italy.