Product Description

From remotest antiquity to the present era of designer drugs and interdiction drugs have played a prominent role in the cultural spiritual and social development of civilisations. Antonio Escohotado demonstrates how the history of drugs illuminates the history of humanity as he explores the long relationship between mankind and mind-altering substances. Hemp for example has been used in India since time immemorial to stimulate mental agility and sexual prowess. Professor Escohotado, also, looks at the present-day differences that exist between the more drug-tolerant societies like Holland and Switzerland and countries advocating complete repression of these substances. The choice we face today is to teach people how to use drugs correctly or to continue to indiscriminately demonise them. Just say no the author says is not an option. Just say know is. ¨

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #345666 in Books
• Published on: 1999-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., author of The Unfolding Self and Green Psychology
A fascinating and informative history of humankind's checkered and often ambivalent relationship with psychoactive plants and drugs. From the role of the opium poppy in ancient Mesopotamia and the ergot-based mystery cult of Eleusis, through the opium wars in China and the persecution of medieval herbalist witches, up to the 'psychedelic rebellion' of the sixties and the insanities of the current 'war on drugs,' Eschohotado covers an enormous subject with scholarly acumen and brings the light of reason to bear on topics often shrouded in bigotry, ignorance, and cupidity. Highly recommended!

American Herb Association, Vol 16:4
This book examines natural substances used by different cultures to alter the mind. Makes for interesting, thought provoking reading.

About the Author
Antonio Escohotado is a professor of philosophy and social science methodology at the National University of Distance Education in Madrid, Spain. He travels widely, offering lectures and seminars on the subject of drugs and history.

Customer Reviews

unbiased look at the history hedonistic self medication
Did you know that the romans had no word for a junky, but a dozen for alcoholics. Everything you ever wanted to confront your parents with, but never knew. It really makes you wonder how the world got to this state. Well written, entertaining and pure factual research. The only let down being that the full two volume version is not available in english and the native spanish is out if print. If you ever tried it, buy it! Cheers from Pet@

A taste of what this author has to offer
Escohotado carefully pulls apart past and present orthodox thinking on drug use. What is really admirable in this piece is the way he avoids a simplistic or moralistic viewpoint. He labours to tell the story, covering all the angles. Amazingly, for such a short book, you get a broad overview of the subject but with much incisive detail. I especially enjoyed his coverage of the opium wars which he links brilliantly with the US government's attitude to drugs in the years after alcohol prohibition. There is a lot of detail on the persecution of drug users by the Catholic church from medieval times through to the conquest of the New World too.

All in all, a great little book which hints at the depth of Escohotado's "Historia de las Drogas". This was originally published in three volumes and is now available as one, huge tome in Spanish. I only wish my Spanish was up to reading it.

This brings me to the matter of the translation, which is atrocious. The translator, Kenneth A. Symington, does not seem to have the first idea of how to render the text into readable English. All too often, I could identify the original Spanish grammatical structure in the English text, as if he had simply translated word for word. It makes for a very heavy read. At times, I lost track of the subject of the sentence, as the translation rambled incoherently on. However, I have ignored the incompetent translation when giving the star rating...

I really hope that if the American publishers decide to produce any more of Escohotado's work, they'll find a different translator. It deserves better than this.