I love how this starts out with warnings about the legalities of the substances discussed. Gotta cover those legal disclaimers! The subject is a serious treatment of mind altering substances that come from plants. Some legal, some only legal in specific circumstances. The focus is on three main substances; opium, caffeine and mescaline.

Caffeine is of course accepted as legal in coffee, tea, colas and other common drinks. Opium is the basis of several pain killing drugs that are legal on prescription, including codeine and morphine. Mescaline plays a part in Native American religious rituals and is exempt from laws forbidding non-Native Americans when used on reservation property as part of a ritual.

The book is largely autobiographical but very interesting in the historical and legal information the author uncovers. The legalities are U.S. focused but surprising. I had no idea that in the late 1990s laws were passed that would allow the government to take your house and land away if they had cause to believe you might use it for growing opium poppies. You don't have to get caught growing the poppies, just have a case that makes it look like that could be your intent, supplied by owning dried poppies bought from the local florist and supported by owning legally licensed firearms.

Apparently this has been modified since, but the author had cause to believe his love of gardening beautiful flowers was putting him at severe risk of losing his family home and going to prison without ever having extracted opium from a poppy.

Scary stuff! So much for claiming the U.S. is a free country. Even more mind boggling is the misinformation put out by drug enforcement agencies that made it sound like opium poppies only grew in Asian climates and were a Ph.D level science project to process. Anyone who reads Victorian literature will know that common people in the cold fens grew their own poppies around their homes and pubs and extracted the opium, even feeding it to their children.

Only a little space was allotted to describing the experience of imbibing opium, yet it sounded very clear. Not having ever tried it myself, I can only go on the description. Caffeine, on the other hand, I'm very familiar with and found the description of its effects interesting in a different way. The fact that all three of these substances are grouped together as psychotropic drugs puts a new perspective on the commonality of caffeine drinks.

The history of caffeine use was very well researched and I have to admire the author's dedication in actually abstaining from it for three months to mark the differences and addictive power of caffeine, particularly in coffee. His description of the effects when he broke that abstention was partly amusing, but very enlightening. The medical information about how regular caffeine actually affects the body gives real food for thought.

Mescaline, the third and last substance dealt with here, comes from a few species of cactus, primarily the peyote cactus though several species collectively referred to as San Pedro cactus have a lesser amount of the drug. The author got himself into the enviable position of being allowed a tour of the primary growing place for peyote on the U.S./Mexico border with plans to participate in a genuine ritual, only to have it all pulled out from under him by the Covid pandemic and stay at home orders.

Not to be discouraged, he revisited the Aldous Huxley book, The Doors of Perception, which gives detailed information of the mescaline experience. This is described along with a series of events that places a cactus in the author's garden, thereby crossing the line into illegality.

The rest of that chapter showed his persistence to research his subject and to his credit, his growing understanding of the meaning and nature of the cactus to the Native American culture. I found this book informative in so many ways!

The amount of research both historical and cultural, not to mention hands on, makes this book authoritative and concise. An impressive accomplishment.

This book is absolutely fascinating, especially to me as a pharmacist. That said I think I would have enjoyed it more had it focussed less on the authors illicit drug taking - but that’s just because I’m a pharmacist! I found the caffeine section to be the most interesting with lots of new facts. It was a slow read for me, partly because of the content but also because my NetGalley ARC version was missing every ‘ff’ ‘fl’ and ‘fi’ meaning I had to guess a lot of words.. for instance flower became ower. Doesn’t take away from the content of the book though and I have found it interesting!

This was an interesting book, but not written at all how I expected. That said, it was very informative, and I came away with knowledge that I didn’t have before reading this.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Would have enjoyed it more if it was less about the author's experiences of drug use, and more about the 'drugs'. Less memoir/personal, more informative, science-based essays . However, having read Pollan before, I should have gathered that this would be the case . I like the 'Caffeine' section best. Even though it can get a bit self-indulgent, I appreciate that Pollan backs his theories up with neat references.

I feel like I had higher expectations from the book, maybe because of the title, I don't know. Anyway, I thought it would be much more about the plants themselves than the author's experience with the three plants mentioned in the book. Still, I learned some interesting facts about the mescaline, the opium and even the coffee.

Humans have used natural plants to alter mood for thousands of years and here Pollan explores three. Opium, illegal and powerful yet opiates are the greatest drug problem of our time. Caffeine, the daily drug of choice for many. Mescaline, associated with mind-altering.
I found the book somewhat patchy and very nearly gave up during the section on opium. This just came across as a repetitive and overly wordy exploration of legalities. the section on caffeine, by contrast, was great - interesting and relevant with a good balance of personal and social/historical. Finally mescaline was a little self-indulgent but had interesting sections of Native American culture which just about saved it. the book is essentially three very long essays!

I learned a lot reading this as it's well researched, well written and informative.
It's thought provoking and it made me reflect on mind altering plants and their role in history.
An excellent and highly recommended book.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This Is Your Mind On Plants is a thought-provoking exploration of opium, caffeine and mescaline, three very different mind-altering substances that start as plants. Michael Pollan does a good job of blending memoir with history and science as he clearly did research on the topics at hand, but also shares his own experience with the drugs. I can see plenty of discussion being sparked from this book. I'll certainly read more Pollan in the future.

I found this book to be absolutely fascinating and written in such an engaging and lyrical way that it captivated my attention throughout.

Considering opium, caffeine and mescaline, the writer provided a rich historical and political context which I found deeply interesting.

Then, in finite detail, the use and effects of each was examined and I for one, found my curiosity piqued.

Such an interesting phenomenon that plants can produce substances that alter our consciousness. Why do they?

This book was so much more than I was expecting and has definitely made me want to read Huxley now to read of his expereince on mescaline.

Even if you're not particularly into botany, this is still a book I would recommend for any open minded people who are curious about different levels of consciousness.

Three chapters, opium, caffeine, and mescaline. The opium one was recycled from some time ago, it would have been interesting to read more about the opiate crisis in modern times in the USA and the drug companies.
The coffee chapter was quite fascinating, given it is the one of the three drugs I use. The social/political aspects were an interesting introduction to the area.
The mescaline chapter dug into some Native American/American Indian information and ideas. Including that some prefer the name Indian to Native American. I found this and the surrounding politics of mescaline more interesting that the effects of the drug.

A well-written and thought-provoking dive into different drugs and their workings on the brain. I though Michael Pollan's prose was clear and engaging, I will never think about my morning cup of coffee in the same way again!

Every day many of us steep socially acceptable leaves in hot water or infuse ground beans to prepare us for the day ahead versus other plants that are illegal to steep and drink. What is a drug and what isn’t? Coffee has been outlawed in the past in Europe and the Arab world.
I’ve been looking forward to reading ‘This is Your Mind on Plants’ by Michael Pollan since I started to hear the buzz about it and it doesn’t disappoint. I’d read about the effects of caffeine with great interest in ‘Why We Sleep’ by Matthew Walker (highly recommended) and learnt about the effects of psychedelics from David Nutt and Tara Austin at #nudgestock2021. A fascinating read that educates and makes you ask many new questions.

This book was more like a memoir of the author experiences with the 3 types of drug listed ( opium/poppies, caffeine and Mescaline) rather than any scientific background. found the book very interesting though.

In well-researched and engaging, often downright chatty prose, Pollan sets out to illuminate and dispel some of the many myths surrounding three of the world’s most infamous plant-based drugs: opium, mescaline and caffeine. To take any of these drugs in whatever form is, Pollan believes, to be ‘engaging with nature in one of the most profound ways possible’, and his book takes the refreshing (though not risk-free) approach of presenting them in a relatively neutral manner, viewed not necessarily through the social lens of ‘drugs’ – a word that is heavy with connotations – but merely in terms of their effects on the brain and the various historical, cultural, political and religious positions they have come to occupy.

[. . .]

The book seems to lose its way a little almost before it has begun, with the first section on opium providing an interesting look at legal wrangling over drugs in the USA, but not informing the reader much about opium itself. In the following sections on caffeine and mescaline, however, Pollan really begins to find his thread and the book picks up in both pace and interest, offering an extremely thought-provoking and refreshingly angled take on how caffeine has impacted on Western society, and asking important questions about cultural appropriation and the violent repression of people and beliefs within the context of mescaline.

[. . .]

Pollan’s mind is evidently an active one: as a writer, he is intelligent and enthusiastic, pushing lines of reasoning and offering his readers new ways of looking at subjects they may not have given much previous consideration. Though at times he seems to become distracted – a botanist catching sight of an unusual-looking specimen – This Is Your Mind On Plants is a thoroughly entertaining read. A healthy dose of fresh insights packaged in a trustworthy, accessible narration, it remains critical of humanity, in awe of nature, and all the while pleasingly willing to accept that some things in this world can’t or shouldn’t be explained.

[abridged review, full version available on my blog]

I found this a truly fascinating read, wonderfully compelling, an exploration of plant-based psychedelics, America’s war on drugs and the country’s drug laws. The book is divided into three sections, the first about opium, a sedative, the second is about caffeine, a stimulant, and the third focusses on mescaline/peyote, a hallucinogen. Each section combines a scientific and historical examination with the author’s own personal experience with the drugs. Caffeine, he reminds us, is the most popular psychoactive drug on the planet – and I must admit I’d never thought of the numerous cups of tea I drink every day in quite in those terms. He also suggests that it was the move from alcohol to coffee that led to Europe’s’ cultural revolutions and the Enlightenment in the 17th century, “sparked by a switch form drunken to caffeinated brains.” I was interested to learn that for the Native American Church, peyote is sacred (and legal) and they do not consider it a drug. I did get a little bored when the author described his own experience on it – I don’t think we needed such a long section – but really that’s the only quibble I have. As for opium, buying poppy seeds is apparently perfectly legal and they are available from seed catalogues, but growing them in your garden is risky as the plants are illegal, and making opium tea not a good idea. The book is wide-ranging and full of interesting snippets like that, and I learnt a lot. A great read.

Interesting and engaging discussion of the use of plants as drugs, including the type of effects and why some are considered more socially acceptable than others. The author focuses on three plant produced drugs: opium, caffeine and mescaline, to represent the three broad categories of psychoactive compounds :sedative, stimulant, and hallucinogen.

This is a fascinating and very personal investigation into our relationship to and interaction with three plants. The writing style is both analytical and reflective. The explanations are enriched by the backstories and efforts to engage with the plants' effects. The 'research' is well-grounded in the literature and is effectively referenced. This was an enjoyable read and each investigation provided its own areas of interest. As a broad-based investigation, this is a highly recommended read

Thanks to net galley for this free read. I found it very interesting. I particularly like the history that the author gives when talking about the different plants as well as it's place in society today.

I love home remedies and curing myself with plants and herbs how my grandmother thought me, so I really enjoyed this book. It has great insight into these natural substances and how they affect our bodies. Definitely recommended!

I found this a very interesting read. Although it's very much US based in research, you can't take away facts.
I have a condition called Premenstrual dysphoric disorder and take some intense medication to help me function. I also had a really bad episode from too much caffeine 12 years ago. Which is what compelled me to request and read this book. I also run an online support group with 18k people on it. They are constantly asking questions re medication, I will be pointing them towards this book.

Thank you #netgally thanks to the author for writing this book.