Third Expanded Edition
Psychology/Pharmacology
520 pp
300 illustrations, photos, drawings
Bibliography, index
ISBN 0-914171-51-8
$38.95
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"Stafford's is a sane, reasoned reference
book in a
controversial area where politics and criminal penalties have kept
research
and public knowledge at a minimum."
 -Publishers
Weekly-New
Age Journal
|
Psychedelics
Encyclopedia
Peter Stafford
Introduction by Dan Joy
Foreword by Andrew Weil, M.D.
 sychedelics
Encyclopedia is a fascinating historical reference on
psychedelics
-- from the LSD-25 of the '60s to the memory enhancers of today.
Psychedelics
Encyclopedia draws from scientific research, personal accounts,
and popular literature to document the properties attributed to
psychedelic
substances, their preparation and use, and the shifting social
attitudes
toward them over the past half-century.
Psychedelics
Encyclopedia is a remarkable sourcebook for anyone interested
in
the psychological, biological, physiological, and cultural aspects of
psychedelics.
Information
on the history, botany, pharmacology, physical effects, mental effects,
forms, and sources for:
+
The LSD Family
+
Marijuana & Relatives
+
Peyote
+
Mescaline & San Pedro
+
Psychoactive Mushrooms
+
The MDA Cluster
+
Yage & Harmaline
+
Ibogaine
+
Short Acting Tryptamines (DMT, DET, DPT)
+
Nootropics
+
Other Psychoactive Substances
Of all the substances that excite the
visionary
powers of the mind, LSD is the most potent. It belongs to a class of
substances
that can be divided into two groups. One group occurs naturally, in the
fungus ergot and in members of the woodrose and morning glory families.
The other group is produced semi-synthetically, the most important
member
being LSD. Both groups exhibit a four-ring crystalline chemical
structure.
Unlike most of the psychoactive molecules dealt with in this book,
which
are called amines, these LSD-type compounds are all amides.
In a curious circle of coincidence,
knowledge about
the psychoactivity of the natural groups came along only after the
synthesis
of LSD by Dr. Albert Hofmann. Unlike most chemists, who even today work
mainly with synthetics, Hofmann was drawn toward study of natural
substances
at the end of the 1920s. Under the supervision of Dr. A. Stoll, who
isolated
the first ergot alkaloid in a pure chemical form, Hofmann later
synthesized
a number of ergot analogues (closely related compounds) at Sandoz
Pharmaceuticals
in Switzerland.
Peter
Stafford Memorial
|
