Pubdate: Tue, 02 Mar 2004
Source: Daily Cardinal (WI Edu)
Copyright: 2004 The Daily Cardinal Newspaper Corporation
Contact:  http://www.cardinal.wisc.edu/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/712
Author: Taniquelle Thurner
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug Education)

'ILLEGAL DRUGS' RECOMMENDED FOR ALL

A note to book publishers: When sending out books to prospective reviewers, 
pay attention to the title of the book and how it could possibly confuse 
the post office or recipients. Some office managers may express concern if 
their editors start getting packages with, say, the words "Illegal Drugs," 
emblazoned across the top.

Recently, such a book came out, written by Dr. Paul M. Gahlinger, MD., 
Ph.D., M.P.H. and yes, FACOEM. And after the initial confusion, the book 
turned out to be quite good.

Don't let the string of letters after his name fool you. This is no 
pretentious textbook written by a pseudo-intellectual on the fast track to 
tenure. This is a real, down-to-earth look at drugs-at their history, their 
role in society and their chemical breakdowns. It is also a user's guide to 
how to find, recognize and take the drug, what symptoms will be experienced 
and then what to do in case of an overdose. But best of all, it is full of 
useless, random facts that are a lot of fun to read.

Why it works

This highly comprehensive guide is not written in the sterile, 
multisyllabic, dull rambling of so many other text-style books, but in 
understandable English. It is littered with fascinating facts and 
scientific anecdotes. In a way, this book is a lot like "The Simpsons," in 
that it will appeal to all people of all ages for different reasons.

According to "Illegal Drugs," the United States "makes up four percent of 
the world's population, but consumes 65 percent of the world's hard drugs."

As such, every American is affected by illegal drugs, if only because they 
pay taxes that are used for social programs or prisons.

However, Gahlinger argues that not all drug use should be seen as lurid, 
bad or evil.

"Psychoactive drugs are, and always have been, a feature of every society 
and should be recognized as such. Since recreational drug use is 
inevitable, threats of ever-increasing penalties ... and just-say-no 
lectures will do little to stop it. The simple fact is that humans like to 
alter their consciousness. The goal, then, is not to stop all drug use, 
(which is impossible) but to reduce harm. This is best done by education," 
Gahlinger writes.

Interesting facts

This book is guaranteed to teach random (but fun) trivia to just about 
anyone. For example, heroin addicts suffering from withdrawal will 
occasionally become so desperate for drugs that they will consume the fresh 
vomit of another user. (Wouldn't that be a great question on "Super 
Millionaire?")

We all know that Coca-Cola used to contain cocaine. Most of us knew that 
heroin was once produced by the Bayer company and sold over the counter as 
a cure-all (Maybe it became illegal after someone noticed the stuff was 
flying off the shelves at a disturbing rate?)

But how many people know the United States military used to experiment with 
using LSD as a new type of chemical weapon?

Accordiong to Gahlinger, the military's reasoning was that LSD caused 
temporary mental instability, and for a while, it was regarded with much 
interest. So much interest, in fact, that the military actually called for 
volunteers who could help them gain a better knowledge of the drug. In 
1959, they paid people $150 to take a form of the drug, LSD-25, so they 
could gauge its effects.

Among those who volunteered, in the name of science, of course, were poet 
Allen Ginsberg, and novelist Ken Kesey, who later used his experience as a 
basis for his novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Other celebrities who openly dabbled with drugs included actor Cary Grant, 
who admitted to having gone on over 100 acid trips, saying the experience 
"completely changed me." Lenny Bruce died with a needle still stuck in his 
arm, overdosing on heroin, which he got from his... mother.

Drugs and slang

Drug use has also made its way into the English language through slang. 
Gahlinger shows how the term "kicking the habit" can be traced back to the 
painful leg spasms that are a result of opiate withdrawal. And the word 
"hippie?" That can be traced back to the opium dens of the early 1900s.

When a person used opium, they would fall into a stupor, sitting on a couch 
or rug for hours at a stretch, and unsurprisingly, many developed sore 
hips. According to Gahlinger, this led to calling opium smoking, "on the 
hip," which eventually evolved to "hip." Eventually, "hip" was used to 
refer to anyone who was avant-garde. The young people of the 1960s, who 
were involved in music, art and psychoactive drugs kept the term, and 
eventually became known as hippies.

Drugs and fairy tales

One interesting thing this book explains is the evolution of witches in 
society. For centuries, in almost every culture, there have been healers 
who eschewed the more widely-accepted forms of medicine and, oftentimes, 
were feared as a result. We all remember the stories of the Salem witch 
trials or the Inquisition, but many are not aware of the strong links 
between so-called "witches" and drugs.

In fact, many occult practitioners in the days of yore used ergot, which is 
the natural base for LSD, as a way to explore psychic realms, according to 
the book. Gahlinger says a common way of getting the ergot into the 
bloodstream was to mix it with oil and to apply the mix to a broomstick. 
The stick was then rubbed along the vagina, and in this way, the 
hallucinogen was absorbed into the bloodstream.

"The sight of a woman laughing hysterically, naked and riding a broomstick 
to a psychic realm was terrifying to the less adventurous public. A woman 
found in this state was usually declared to be a witch and burned at the 
stake," Gahlinger writes.

Big surprise.

Also, witches were closely tied to two other drugs. In bedtime stories, 
these crones commonly cook or grow toadstools, which many people now 
correlate to "magic" mushrooms, which are full of psilocybin, another 
hallucinatory agent. Witches commonly have pet toads, too. As it turns out, 
there is one frog, the Bufo toad, that excretes another hallucinatory agent.

Who will like this book

This book really will appeal to just about everyone. Those in law 
enforcement will definitely appreciate the information here, as it covers 
everything from street names to what some drugs look like to their chemical 
composites.

Those interested in learning about social sciences and the world around 
them will also find many answers in the book.

Drug users will learn information on how to test the purity of drugs and 
how to counteract bad effects, as well as fun lessons on how to speed up 
the growth of peyote by grafting the cactus to another cactus.

The mad scientist will like the book for the information on how to create 
chemical drugs and the average reader, looking for entertainment is sure to 
find interesting knowledge all the way through.

The big... but

While the book is well-written, many people could argue that this book is 
flawed in the same way that Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" program was. 
Namely, teaching people how to make or procure drugs, what kinds of effects 
they could expect and how to test drugs for purity may be a little too much 
information in a society where these drugs are illegal. However, under our 
First Amendment rights, the author is certainly within his power to share 
this information and ultimately it is up to the reader to be responsible 
and use the information correctly.

"Illegal Drugs" is published by Plume Books.
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager