Pollan documents the history of psychedelics in 1960s America, the early research work at the Spring Grove in the ’60s and 70s, the government long-lasting ban, the first “renaissance” of psychedelic research with volunteers in 1999 at John Hopkins. He then takes the bull by the horns and does experiments on himself, no more, no less.

In this review, I’ll assume most readers who have not read his book will want to know the experiences the author had himself, and the reports from the volunteers from the studies. A fair warning: I do not commend neither the use or experimentation with these substances. LSD, psylocybin (mushrooms), these are Schedule I controlled substances whose use is prohibited in the United States and other countries. Experimenters may find themselves on the wrong side of law enforcement, whether they use a “guide” or not. However, on the internet nowadays there are a lot of “reports” of user experiments with ayahuasca, etc. which are misleading coming from numbskulls who are half-wits themselves, they couldn’t testify to drinking a coffee if they tried. Those “reports” therefore are best to be ignored altogether. The reports in the Pollan book, on the other hand, are from people who aren’t drug users or publicity-stunt seekers; these are people who hold jobs and lead a normal, productive life. Pollan interviewed some of these people.

Report from the John Hopkins volunteer who was a 44-year old physicist with a security clearance:

“I could feel my body dissolving, beginning with my feet, until it all dissapeared but the left side of my jaw…soon after, found himself in a large cave where all his pat relationships were hanging down as icicles, high school friends, my first girlfriend…”

Some of the researchers tried it on themselves before engaging participants.

“Language represents a special case of synesthesia, in which otherwise meaningless sounds become linked to concepts.” -Terrence McKenna

In 1959, actor Carry Grant, then aged 55 told in an interview with Joe Hyams about his LSD therapy:

“All the sadness and vanities were torn away”

Michael Pollan’s experiences are documented in Chapter 4, Travelogue, where he interviews and selects “guides” and comes face-to-face with LSD, psylocibin, and the smoked venom of the toad, 5-MeO-DMT. DMT is a compound also found in ayahuasca.

“And then I looked and saw myself out there again, but this time spread over the landscape like paint, or butter, thinly coating a wide expanse of the world with a substance I recognized as me.” -Michael Pollan

“Rushing backward through 14 billion years, I watched the dimensions of reality collapse one by one until there was nothing left, not even one being. Only the all-consuming roar…” -Michael Pollan

Quote of the day: “Good luck, bad luck, no luck -they’re just mental concepts. They all fall short of reality.” -Max Cantor

You have to read the book to see, as best-as-words-could-describe it, what happened.

It seems that people experiences vary greatly, from bizarre to the absurd, and in some cases the ego-identity yet remains, while in most cases it gets dissolved. I will link to Michael Pollan website for further resources from the author, who hasn’t just landed psychedelics on his head, but has done research in nutrition and other topics. As an early book, you could also read The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley.

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