Research Catalog

Title

Intoxication : Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise / Ronald K. Siegel.

Author

Siegel, Ronald K.

Publication

New York : E.P. Dutton, ©1989.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

viii, 390 pages; 24 cm

Summary

"Answering the ageless question of why we seek drugs, a renowned psychopharmacologist explains his controversial thesis: the desire for intoxication is actually a fourth drive, as unstoppable as hunger, thirst, and sex. The War on Drugs - an everyday headline - started in Eden with a battle between hungry animals and plants that defended themselves by producing intoxicating chemicals. Humankind discovered these substances and soon became King of the Intoxicated; for example, unwisely ripping the natural packaging off plant chemicals and shooting up. We have much to learn from animals whose drug use is often so much wiser than ours. Intoxication takes us on an amazing odyssey around the globe, in which the drug-using jungle beasts, savanna game, and household pets reveal the rules and reasons for this ancient habit. And in the lab , animals are trained to "describe" what they see while under the influence: it is the same artificial paradise reported by primitives and modern drug users. The pursuit of drugs - whether caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, opium, marijuana, or cocaine - is universal and inescapable. It is to be found across time and species , and in the private lives of presidents and citizens alike. The struggle between this natural drive and societal law has become a deadly war that can never be won. But there is an answer: the lessons gleaned from animals show that we can make peace with the fourth drive, understand that drugs are a kind of medication needed to change how we feel, and use the technology and education that is our human distinction to design safe intoxicants." --

Subject

• Animals > Drug use
• Substance abuse
• Poisonous plants
• Drug abuse
• Drug addiction
• Behavior, Animal > drug effects
• Plants, Toxic
• Substance-Related Disorders
• substance abuse
• drug addiction
• drug abuse
• Poisonous plants
• Drug addiction
• Drug abuse
• Animals > Drug use
• Substance abuse
• Drogenkonsum
• Drogenmissbrauch
• Sozialpsychologie
• Tiere

Note

• Includes index.

Bibliography (note)

• Bibliography: p. 321-370.

Contents

[Table of Contents] -- Prologue -- Introduction -- PART I: THE DRUGS -- 1. War in Eden: Origins of Plant Drugs -- 2. A Trip of Goats: Discovery of Poisons and Intoxicants -- 3. Falling Birds and Flying Cats: Accidents with Hallucinogens -- 4. A Shrewdness of Apes: Learning to Use Tobacco and Other Drugs -- 5. Ark on the Rocks: Alcohol as the Universal Intoxicant -- 6. Milk of Paradise: Romance and Addiction with Opium -- 7. Emerald Laughter: Hashish and Marijuana -- 8. Force March: Coca and Cocaine -- 9. A Bevy of Beasts: Drugs in the Social Group -- PART II: THE DRIVE -- 10. The Fourth Drive: Motivation for Intoxication -- 11. Fire in the Brain: Mental Marvels, Murder, and Mechanisms of Control -- 12. Star-Spangled Powders: Drugs and the American Way -- 13. War on Drugs: Enduring Supplies and Demands -- 14. Waking Dreams: Drugs in the Future -- Epilogue -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.

ISBN

• 0525247645
• 9780525247647

LCCN

88037411

OCLC

• ocm18780428
• 18780428
• SCSB-1748310

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library