The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications
In the traditions of every culture, psychoactive plants--those known to transport the mind to other dimensions of consciousness--have been regarded as sacred. This book details the history, botany, and use of psychoactive plants and is lavishly illustrated with color photographs of the people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world’s sacred psychoactive plants.
Psychopharmacology is the study of the effects of psychoactive drugs on the functioning of the central nervous system at all levels of analysis, thus embracing cognition, behaviour, psychological states, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, gene expression and molecular biology. It includes, as an integral part of its domain, the interaction of environmental and genetic factors with psychoactive drug action, their medicinal and social uses, and their abuse.