The Chemistry of Mind-Altering Drugs

This book, intended for a wide audience from college students and professors to organic, pharmaceutical, and medicinal chemists, provides an accessible explanation of drug-receptor interaction and organic chemical structures, as well as descriptions of the discovery, isolation, and syntheses of the chemical substances responsible for drug activity. It is a rigorous, scientifically objective, and thoroughly documented exposition of acute pharmacological and psychological effects of nearly every known substance that affects human consciousness, from alcohol to zopiclone. Also featured are first-hand accounts and descriptions of the social, cultural, and religious milieus in which many psychotropic plants are used.