Me preguntáis mucho sobre recomendaciones de libros de drogas, de psicofarmacologia y de psicodélicos.
Como continuación de nuestra primera selección de los mejores libros sobre drogas en español, hemos creado esta nueva sección dedicada a los títulos más destacados en inglés. Aquí encontrarás libros que exploran su historia, su ciencia, sus usos, sus riesgos y todo su desarrollo terapéutico. Y, por supuesto, también hemos incluido obras que profundizan en el tema más relevante de la actualidad: el potencial terapéutico de las drogas psicodélicas en particular.
SOBRE DROGAS PSICODÉLICAS, ETEÓGENAS, ALUCINÓGENAS… EN PARTICULAR:
The Psychedelic Reawakening: How Psilocybin, MDMA, Ketamine, LSD, and DMT Are Changing Lives
Antón Gómez-Escolar
Sinopsis en inglés: Explores the benefits, risks, and growing acceptance of modern psychedelic therapy
- Examines the contemporary psychedelic phenomenon, including the history of criminalization and legalization, psychedelics’ effects on the brain, recent clinical research, and new therapeutic potentials
- Explores substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, ketamine, and MDMA, including scientific evidence for psychedelics’ potential to treat addiction, depression, anxiety, trauma, and neurodegenerative diseases
- Includes extensive practical information on safety, risk, and harm reduction for both laypeople and mental health practitioners
Presenting a comprehensive guide to the exciting new landscape around psychedelics, psychopharmacologist and researcher Anton Gomez-Escolar examines the long history of criminalizing and (slowly) legalizing these substances and their increasingly demonstrable positive effects on body, mind, and spirit.
Exploring substances like psilocybin, LSD, DMT, ayahuasca, ketamine, MDMA, and others, Gomez-Escolar looks at the multitude of scientific studies providing critical evidence for psychedelics’ ability to treat addiction, depression, anxiety, and trauma, as well as their potential to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. He provides key information for therapists and other health practitioners as well as exploring the benefits of microdosing and the specific ways in which mental health issues related to COVID-19 could be alleviated by psychedelics. Breaking down substances by type, the author looks at the main risks of each psychedelic and its benefits, best harm-reduction strategies, and the neural pathways they affect. Gomez-Escolar also includes a large selection of resources for people seeking to engage personally with psychedelics for healing.
Disponible en: Amazon, Simon & Schuster, Simon & Schuster UK, Barnes and Noble, Inner Traditions, Books a Million y Bookshop.org
How To Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics
Michael Pollan
Sinopsis en inglés: THE NO. 1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER, NOW A MAJOR NEW NETFLIX SERIES
‘Reminds us that the mind is the greatest mystery in the universe’ Yuval Noah Harari, Guardian, Books of the Year
Could psychedelic drugs change our worldview? Join Michael Pollan on a journey to the frontiers of the human mind.
Diving deep into an extraordinary world – from shamans and magic mushroom hunts to the pioneering labs mapping our brains – and putting himself forward as a guinea-pig, Michael Pollan has written a remarkable history of psychedelics and a compelling portrait of the new generation of scientists fascinated by the implications of these drugs. How to Change Your Mind is a report from what could very well be the future of consciousness.
‘A sweeping and often thrilling chronicle of the history of psychedelics, all interwoven with Pollan’s adventures as a psychedelic novice. This is a serious work of history and science, but also one in which the author, under the influence of toad venom, becomes convinced he’s giving birth to himself’ Oliver Burkeman, Guardian
‘A mind-altering book … full of transformations’ Richard Godwin, Evening Standard
‘An irresistible blend of history, research and personal experience. In terms of the psychedelic wave, the book is the big kahuna, the Big Bang moment for a movement that is gathering force’ John McKenna, Irish Times
‘Entertaining and engrossing’ Paul Laity, Financial Times
‘Deeply absorbing, wise and beautifully written’ Mick Brown, Literary Review
‘An astounding book’ Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine
The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys
James Fadiman
Sinopsis en inglés: Called “America’s wisest and most respected authority on psychedelics and their use,” James Fadiman has been involved with psychedelic research since the 1960s. In this guide to the immediate and long-term effects of psychedelic use for spiritual (high dose), therapeutic (moderate dose), and problem-solving (low dose) purposes, Fadiman outlines best practices for safe, sacred entheogenic voyages learned through his more than 40 years of experience–from the benefits of having a sensitive guide during a session (and how to be one) to the importance of the setting and pre-session intention. Fadiman reviews the newest as well as the neglected research into the psychotherapeutic value of visionary drug use for increased personal awareness and a host of serious medical conditions, including his recent study of the reasons for and results of psychedelic use among hundreds of students and professionals. He reveals new uses for LSD and other psychedelics, including extremely low doses for improved cognitive functioning and emotional balance. Cautioning that psychedelics are not for everyone, he dispels the myths and misperceptions about psychedelics circulating in textbooks and clinics as well as on the internet. Exploring the life-changing experiences of Ram Dass, Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley, and Huston Smith as well as Francis Crick and Steve Jobs, Fadiman shows how psychedelics, used wisely, can lead not only to healing but also to scientific breakthroughs and spiritual epiphanies.
The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead
Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner & Richard Alpert
Sinopsis en inglés: The Psychedelic Experience, created by the prophetic shaman-professors Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzer and Richard Alpert, is a foundational text that serves as a model and a guide for all subsequent mind-expanding inquiries. In this wholly unique book, the authors provide an interpretation of an ancient sacred manuscript, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, from a psychedelic perspective. The Psychedelic Experience describes their discoveries in broadening spiritual consciousness through a combination of Tibetan mediation techniques and psychotropic substances.
Pharmacotheon: Enthogenic Drugs, Their Plant Sources and History
Jonathan Ott
Sinopsis en inglés: A comprehensive exploration of psychoactive plants and substances used throughout human history. The book delves into the cultural, historical, and scientific contexts of entheogens, offering detailed insights into their sources, preparation, and effects. Ott combines meticulous research with personal experience, making it both an academic resource and an engaging read. This work is considered a cornerstone in the field of ethnobotany and psychopharmacology, providing a deep understanding of humanity’s long-standing relationship with mind-altering substances.
Psychedelics and mental health: Therapeutic applications and neuroscience of psilocybin, LSD, DMT and MDMA
Irene de Caso
Sinopsis en inglés: Learn about the therapeutic uses of classical psychedelics and empathogens as revolutionary tools for neuroplasticity and mental health. Discover how they promote profoundly revealing mental states capable of restructuring our internal models of the world, reconsolidate traumatic memories and improve our social relationships. How do they affect the brain? What characteristics make these substances powerful catalysts for the psychotherapeutic process? Learn how they can help to improve severe symptoms: addictions, treatment-resistant depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress. This illustrated guide describes the most important clinical studies and will be of great interest to all medical and mental health professionals seeking to understand the cutting edge clinical applications of these molecules, as well as to individuals interested in learning about the potential of psychedelic-assisted therapies.
Your brain on psychedelics: How do psychedelics work?: Pharmacology and neuroscience of psilocybin, DMT, LSD, MDMA, mescaline
Genis Ona
Sinopsis en inglés: Discover the pharmacology of psychedelics. Delve into the cutting edge of scientific research on the impact of psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, mescaline and LSD on the brain. With this guide you will learn the keys to the effects of psychedelics, capable of producing significant changes in the processes of perception, thought and consciousness. An illustrated guide to understanding the science behind new psychedelic-assisted therapies for treating mental health issues. This essential guide will be of interest to all psychonauts eager to immerse themselves in the pharmacology of the most popular psychedelic molecules, to all medical and mental health professionals, and to all people interested in learning the essentials of the neuroscience of psychedelic molecules and how they affect our brains.
LSD My Problem Child: Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science
Albert Hofmann
Sinopsis en inglés: LSD My Problem Child is the story of LSD told by a concerned yet hopeful father and organic chemist, the late Albert Hofmann, PhD.Credited with synthesizing and discovering the psychedelic effects of LSD, Hofmann traces the path of the drug from a promising psychiatric research medicine to a recreational drug sparking hysteria and prohibition. In LSD: My Problem Child, Dr. Hofmann documents his trek across Mexico to discover sacred plants related to LSD and shares correspondences with notable figures including Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley and Walter Vogt. The underlying current of this book is Dr. Hofmann’s powerful conclusion that mystical experiences may be our planet’s best hope for survival. Whether induced by LSD, meditation, or arising spontaneously, such experiences help us to comprehend, as Hofmann wrote, «the wonder, the mystery of the divine, in the microcosm of the atom, in the macrocosm of the spiral nebula, in the seeds of plants, in the body and soul of people.» More than sixty years after the birth of Albert Hofmann’s problem child, his vision of its true potential is reaching relevancy as psychedelics enjoy a new resurgence in popular discourse. In 2022, Hofmann’s pioneering work was featured in the Netflix documentary series, «How to Change Your Mind.»
Essential guide to the Psychedelic Renaissance: All you need to know about how psilocybin, MDMA and LSD are revolutionizing mental health and changing lives
Anton Gomez-Escolar
Sinopsis en inglés: In this guide you will learn all the essentials about the history, neuroscience, legality, therapeutic applications and harm reduction of the most promising psychedelic drugs for science. After decades of international prohibition these molecules are returning to laboratories and clinics, hand in hand with the most rigorous science, to revolutionize the way we understand and treat mental health (depression, anxiety, PTSD and addictions). Discover the world of psilocybin, MDMA, DMT, ketamine and LSD, before society immerses in this revolution, which will forever change the perception we have of psychedelics. This guide will be of interest to both therapists and other mental health professionals interested in the clinical applications, parents and educators seeking to understand the impact and safety of psychedelics and other drugs, as well as any adult curious to learn about and explore this new world of the psychedelic renaissance.
DMT: The Spirit Molecule: A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences
Rick Strassman
Sinopsis en inglés: From 1990 to 1995 Dr. Rick Strassman conducted U.S. Government-approved and funded clinical research at the University of New Mexico in which he injected sixty volunteers with DMT, one of the most powerful psychedelics known. His detailed account of those sessions is an extraordinarily riveting inquiry into the nature of the human mind and the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. DMT, a plant-derived chemical found in the psychedelic Amazon brew, ayahuasca, is also manufactured by the human brain. In Strassman’s volunteers, it consistently produced near-death and mystical experiences. Many reported convincing encounters with intelligent nonhuman presences, aliens, angels, and spirits. Nearly all felt that the sessions were among the most profound experiences of their lives. Strassman’s research connects DMT with the pineal gland, considered by Hindus to be the site of the seventh chakra and by Rene Descartes to be the seat of the soul. DMT: The Spirit Molecule makes the bold case that DMT, naturally released by the pineal gland, facilitates the soul’s movement in and out of the body and is an integral part of the birth and death experiences, as well as the highest states of meditation and even sexual transcendence. Strassman also believes that «»alien abduction experiences»» are brought on by accidental releases of DMT. If used wisely, DMT could trigger a period of remarkable progress in the scientific exploration of the most mystical regions of the human mind and soul.
LSD Psychotherapy (4th Edition): The Healing Potential of Psychedelic Medicine
Stanislav Grof
Sinopsis en inglés: LSD Psychotherapy is a complete account of a remarkable chapter in the ever-continuing inquiry into our transpersonal nature and origins.
The sensationalism surrounding the widespread use of LSD in the late 1960s and the subsequent legislative overkill virtually ended psychotherapeutic LSD research. Much of what had been learned over thirty years of scientific medical study was so distorted or suppressed that no objective overview was available to the general reader except for this book.
The controlled studies described in this book reveal exciting and challenging data about the nature of human consciousness, perception, and reality itself. Drawing on this work, Stanislav Grof outlines a new cartography of the human mind, one which accounts for experiences such as shamanic trances, near-death experiences and altered states of consciousness. This vision is also the foundation for Dr. Grof’s revolutionary Holotropic Breathwork techniques.
This book is also a visual feast, with numerous color drawings and paintings created by research participants (see featured artist Sherana Harriette Frances’ book, Drawing It Out: Befriending the Unconscious). Many of these depict archetypal images from the collective human consciousness, forming a powerful addition to the text.
LSD Psychotherapy is a valuable source of information for those who are involved with LSD in any way, whether as parents, teachers, researchers, legislators, or students of the human psyche. The approach to healing described in this book is inspired by the eternal desire of humankind for wholeness and an enduring grasp of reality.
The Doors of Perception: And Heaven and Hell
Aldous Huxley
Sinopsis en inglés: Discover this profound account of Huxley’s famous experimentation with mescalin that has influenced writers and artists for decades.
‘Concise, evocative, wise and, above all, humane, The Doors of Perception is a masterpiece’ Sunday Times
In 1953, in the presence of an investigator, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gram of mescalin, sat down and waited to see what would happen. When he opened his eyes everything, from the flowers in a vase to the creases in his trousers, was transformed. Huxley described his experience with breathtaking immediacy in The Doors of Perception.
In its sequel Heaven and Hell, he goes on to explore the history and nature of mysticism. Still bristling with a sense of excitement and discovery, these illuminating and influential writings remain the most fascinating account of the visionary experience ever written.
Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD
Martin A. Lee
Sinopsis en inglés: Few events have had a more profound impact on the social and cultural upheavals of the Sixties than the psychedelic revolution spawned by the spread of LSD. This book for the first time tells the full and astounding story—part of it hidden till now in secret Government files—of the role the mind-altering drug played in our recent turbulent history and the continuing influence it has on our time.
And what a story it is, beginning with LSD’s discovery in 1943 as the most potent drug known to science until it spilled into public view some twenty years later to set the stage for one of the great ideological wars of the decade. In the intervening years the CIA had launched a massive covert research program in the hope that LSD would serve as an espionage weapon, psychiatric pioneers came to believe that acid would shed light on the perplexing problems of mental illness, and a new generation of writers and artists had given birth to the LSD sub-culture.
Acid Dreams is a complete social history of the psychedelic counter-culture that burst into full view in the Sixties. With new information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the authors reveal how the CIA became obsessed with LSD during the Cold War, fearing the Soviets had designs on it as well. What follows is one of the more bizarre episodes in the covert history of U.S. intelligence as the search for a “truth drug” began to resemble a James Bond scenario in which agents spied on drug-addicted prostitutes through two-way mirrors and countless unwitting citizens received acid with sometimes tragic results.
The story took a new turn when Captain Al Hubbard, the first of a series of “Johnny Appleseeds” of acid, began to turn on thousands of scientists, businessmen, church figures, policemen, and others from different walks of life.
Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, Allen Ginsberg and the Beat generation, the Diggers and the Age of Golden Anarchy in Haight-Ashbury, William Mellon Hitchcock, Abbie Hoffman and the Yippies, the Beatles—these are just some of a motley cast of characters who stride through the pages of this compelling chronicle. What impact did the widespread use of LSD have on the anti-war movement of the late Sixties? Acid Dreams traces the way the drug intensified each stage of counter-cultural transition to break the “mind-forged manacles” of a new generation in rebellion.
In Acid Dreams, Martin Lee and Bruce Shalin have written the history of a time still only dimly understood. The events they recount and the facts they uncover supply an important missing piece of the puzzle of a crucial decade in our recent past.
The Microdosing Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual to Improve Your Physical and Mental Health through Psychedelic Medicine
C. J. Spotswood
Sinopsis en inglés: Learn about the history, research, and helpful effects of microdosing psychedelic medicines like psilocybin, LSD, ecstasy, and more with this combination manual and workbook.
Microdosing, or taking between 1/10th and 1/20th of the normal dose of a psychedelic drug is the latest way to improve performance, stave off chronic pain, and alleviate a variety of other ailments like anxiety and depression. Unlike a psychedelic trip, microdosing does not alter your mental status or interfere with day-to-day life. Part handbook and part workbook, The Microdosing Guidebook is your ultimate reference for safely using psychedelic medicine.
Whether you have experience with psychedelics or are simply curious to learn more, The Microdosing Guidebook has everything you need to get started on your healing journey.
A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage and My Life
Ayelet Waldman
Sinopsis en inglés: The true story of how a renowned writer’s struggle with mood storms led her to try a remedy as drastic as it is forbidden: microdoses of LSD. Her fascinating journey provides a window into one family and the complex world of a once-infamous drug seen through new eyes.
When a small vial arrives in her mailbox from ‘Lewis Carroll,’ Ayelet Waldman is at a low point. Her mood storms have become intolerably severe; she has tried nearly every medication possible; her husband and children are suffering with her. So she opens the vial, places two drops on her tongue, and joins the ranks of an underground but increasingly vocal group of scientists and civilians successfully using therapeutic microdoses of LSD. As Waldman charts her experience over the course of a month – bursts of productivity, sleepless nights, a newfound sense of equanimity – she also explores the history and mythology of LSD, the cutting-edge research into the drug, and the byzantine policies that control it. Drawing on her experience as a federal public defender, and as the mother of teenagers, and her research into the therapeutic value of psychedelics, Waldman has produced a book that is eye-opening, often hilarious, and utterly enthralling.
Psychedelic psychotherapy and research. Past, present and future
Iker Puente
Sinopsis en inglés: Dr Iker Puente´s book Psychedelic psychotherapy and research. Past, present and future is a comprehensive guide to the work that is currently being done in this field, collecting the contributions of numerous leading researchers and psychotherapists, as well as documenting the work carried out during the 1960s and 1970s by a series of pioneer researchers, including Stanislav Grof, James Fadiman, Claudio Naranjo, William Richards and David Nichols. This book includes a total of 16 interviews and dialogues conducted over seven years in different countries, places and circumstances.This work is being published with very appropriate timing. It is being presented to the scientific and professional community and lay audiences at a time when we are experiencing a remarkable worldwide renaissance of interest in scientific research of psychedelic substances. This is an unexpected and surprising change after four decades during which official legally sanctioned clinical work was made almost impossible by very restrictive legislation responding to mass unsupervised use of these substances. These developments engender hopes that in the future psychedelics will return to the hands of therapists and responsible experimenters.Dr. Iker Puente’s book reviews the research carried out in the 1960s and 1970s, the motives behind the restrictive legislation that made official legally sanctioned clinical work almost impossible for decades, and the remarkable worldwide renaissance of interest in scientific research of psychedelic substances we are experiencing at present. For several years the author has been interviewing the researchers, psychiatrists and psychologists who have studied and are currently studying the potential of these substances for the treatment of different psychological and emotional disorders, for creativity and problem solving and to induce mystical experiences, among other uses.The book describes in detail the present situation of psychedelic research, and points to the future of this flourishing and promising field of study. The rich and complete information contained in this book will be most beneficial for the future of psychedelic research and psychotherapy, describing in clear and articulate language everything that is necessary to know about this field to the professional community and lay audiences alike. “Dr. Puente’s interviews with seminal contributors to the renaissance in psychedelic research constitute a treasure trove, reflecting the past, present and potential future of this incredible frontier of knowledge and treatment”. William A Richards, PhD author of Sacred Knowledge, Psychedelics and Religious Experiences. “As the field of psychedelic psychotherapy becomes more mainstream, the wisdom of the pioneers interviewed by Dr. Puente becomes ever more important to reflect upon, especially as commercial for-profit investors seek monetary gain more so than conscious evolution. Dr. Puente asks excellent questions to his interviewees making this an important book coming out at a crucial time”. Rick Doblin, PhD Founder and director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. “This delightful book is comprised of interviews with fifteen of the people who have been significantly involved in psychedelic research (plus one interview with an anonymous underground therapist). The interviews provide interesting back story and insight into when, why, and how the interviewees entered this important and rapidly growing field, deepening our understanding of their main contributions and future projects. It is a priceless documentation of some of the history of the renewal of research on psychedelics”.David Nichols, PhD, President of the Heffter Research Institute.
Food of the Gods: The Search for the Original Tree of Knowledge A Radical History of Plants, Drugs, and Human Evolution
Terence McKenna
Sinopsis en inglés: An exploration of humans’ symbiotic relationships with plants and chemicals presents information on prehistoric partnership societies, the roles of spices and spirits in the rise of dominator societies; and the politics of tobacco, tea, coffee, opium, and alcohol.
Why, as a species, are humans so fascinated by altered states of consciousness? Can altered states reveal something to us about our origins and our place in nature? In Food of the Gods, ethnobotanist Terence McKenna’s research on man’s ancient relationship with chemicals opens a doorway to the divine, and perhaps a solution for saving our troubled world. McKenna provides a revisionist look at the historical role of drugs in the East and the West, from ancient spice, sugar, and rum trades to marijuana, cocaine, synthetics, and even television—illustrating the human desire for the “food of the gods” and the powerful potential to replace abuse of illegal drugs with a shamanic understanding, insistence on community, reverence for nature, and increased self-awareness.
PIHKAL: A Chemical Love Story
Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin
Sinopsis en inglés: Alexander (better known as “Sasha”) and Ann Shulgin’s PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story has become a foundational work in the genre and was the first book to fully impart the how-to chemistry, and convey the effects, of many of the entheogenic drugs that are currently being studied and used to heal trauma and deal with death. An acronym for “Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved”, the book spans autobiography, organic chemistry, politics, ethnobotany, and psychopharmacology, and the cultural impact is likely to be profound for decades to come, as it has already. PiHKAL is divided into two parts, the first of which is a fictionalized autobiographical ‘novel’ – the main fiction is that it is fiction. This first half of the book is The Love Story, about two people named Shura and Alice who fall in love, though one of them is already in love with someone else. This love triangle is a painful ordeal they must go through, and that process unfolds before the reader with grace and great insight into human nature. Shura is a brilliant chemist who has dedicated his career to making psychoactive drugs, in the story they go through many experiences with the psychedelic compounds that Shura has discovered and has made in his lab, all of which have been bioassayed himself. The reader will find themselves going on this journey with them, experiencing what they experienced, both in their hearts and in the psychedelic journeys they have. The second half of PiHKAL is called The Chemical Story, and it contains detailed instructions for, and effects of, the synthesis of 179 psychedelic phenethylamines which were mostly discovered by Shulgin himself. For each substance there is information on its synthesis, suggested effective dosage, duration, and detailed commentary on the subjective effects that were experienced. This book appeals to adults of all ages and cultures, and to the psychedelically experienced and inexperienced alike.
TIHKAL: The Continuation
Alexander Shulgin and Ann Shulgin
Sinopsis en inglés: A continuation of the classic PIHKAL, TIHKAL focuses on the family of psychoactive drugs in the tryptamine family and provides a blend of biography, botanical facts, scientific speculation, and psychological and political commentary written by renowned psychopharmacologist Alexander Shulgin and his wife Ann Shulgin. Where PiHKAL focuses on a class of compounds called phenethylamines, TiHKAL is written about a family of psychoactive drugs known as tryptamines with TiHKAL being an acronym for «Tryptamines I Have Known and Loved”. Like its predecessor, it is divided into two parts. The first part of the book begins with the story of Alice and Shura, a fictionalized autobiography, which picks up where the similar section of PiHKAL left off. The book opens with the story about the DEA raid that occurred a few years after the publication of their first book, PiHKAL. It’s a window into the DEA, the institutional aspect and human side of it as well, and the price that Shura and Alice pay for doing what they do, including exercising their first amendment rights. It then continues with a collection of essays on topics ranging from psychotherapy and the Jungian mind, to the prevalence of DMT in nature, ayahuasca, the War on Drugs, and even the Big Bang. It is a blend of travel, botanical facts, scientific speculation, psychological and political commentary. It is fascinating getting to know the mind of the man behind the compounds – his thoughts on science, technology, law, and society. And the mind of the woman who brought his work and their story into the light of the world. The second part of TiHKAL is “The Chemistry Continues”. It is a detailed manual for 55 psychedelic compounds (many discovered by Shulgin himself). For each compound there is information on synthesis, effective dosage, duration of effects, and commentary on the subjective effects that were experienced. The Shulgin’s’ two big books span autobiography, organic chemistry, politics, ethnobotany and psychopharmacology and the cultural impact of these works has been profound and will continue to be so in the future.
SOBRE DROGAS Y PSICOFÁRMACOS EN GENERAL:
Drugs without the hot air: Making sense of legal and illegal drugs
David Nutt
Sinopsis en inglés: The dangers of illegal drugs are well known and rarely disputed, but how harmful are alcohol and tobacco by comparison? The issue of what a drug is and how we should live with them affects us all: parents, teachers, users – anyone who has taken a painkiller or drunk a glass of wine. Written by renowned psychiatrist, Professor David Nutt, Drugs without the hot air casts a refreshingly honest light on drugs and answers crucial questions that are rarely ever disputed. What are we missing by banning medical research into magic mushrooms, LSD and cannabis? Can they be sources of valuable treatments? How can psychedelics treat depression? Drugs without the hot air covers a wide range of topics, from addiction and whether addictive personalities exist to the role of cannabis in treating epilepsy, an overview on the opioid crisis, and an assessment of how harmful vaping is. This new expanded and revised second edition includes even more details on international policies, particularly in the US. David’s research has won international support, reducing drug-related harm by introducing policies that are founded on scientific evidence. But there is still a lot to be done. Accessibly written, this much-awaited second edition is an important book for everyone that brings us all up to date with the ‘war of drugs’.
The Drug Users Bible [Extended Edition]: Harm Reduction, Risk Mitigation, Personal Safety
Dominic Milton Trott
Sinopsis en inglés: People are dying because of ignorance. They are dying because unremitting propaganda is denying them vital safety information. They are dying because legislators and the media are censoring the science, and are ruthlessly pushing an ideological agenda instead. They are dying because the first casualty of war is truth, and the war on drugs is no different. This book makes a significant contribution in confronting this harrowing and tragic narrative.
Over a 12 year period the author of this book self-administered over 180 psychoactive substances; both chemicals and plants. For each he recorded the life-sensitive safety data, including the anticipated onset times, the common threshold doses, the routes of administration, and the expected duration of the experience.
In addition, for every compound he also produced a trip report, detailing the qualitative experience itself. This delivered another invaluable insight, enabling, for example, an objective assessment of the extent of any loss of judgement and self-control.
This is a substantial body of work, embracing a wealth of direct support material, including addiction/overdose advice, relative harm tables, and legal briefings. Its contents also extend to cover aspects such as drug tourism, psychedelic exploration and drug related culture. It is crammed with detailed reference data, and even includes its own drug dictionary.
The Drug Users Bible is a unique and unprecedented volume of encyclopaedic research, embracing the full extent of the drugscape. Its objective is to provide, without fear or compromise, core and critical information to support the health, welfare and well-being of the 250 million people in the world who use drugs.
The book itself is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs, taken by the author himself.
Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind
Mike Jay
Sinopsis en inglés: A provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, artists and philosophers who took drugs to explore the hidden regions of the mind
A New Yorker Best of the Week Pick
“Jay is a leading expert on the history of Western drug use, and Psychonauts is the latest in a series of excellent studies in which he has investigated the roots of a kind of psychoactive exploration that we tend to associate with the nineteen-fifties and sixties.”―Clare Bucknell, New Yorker
“Captivating. . . . A welcome reconsideration of the role drugs play in life, medicine, and science.”―Publishers Weekly
Until the twentieth century, scientists investigating the effects of drugs on the mind did so by experimenting on themselves. Vivid descriptions of drug experiences sparked insights across the mind sciences, pharmacology, medicine, and philosophy. Accounts in journals and literary fiction inspired a fascinated public to make their own experiments―in scientific demonstrations, on exotic travels, at literary salons, and in occult rituals.
But after 1900 drugs were increasingly viewed as a social problem, and the long tradition of self-experimentation began to disappear.
From Sigmund Freud’s experiments with cocaine to William James’s epiphany on nitrous oxide, Mike Jay brilliantly recovers a lost intellectual tradition of drug-taking that fed the birth of psychology, the discovery of the unconscious, and the emergence of modernism. Today, as we embrace novel cognitive enhancers and psychedelics, the experiments of the original psychonauts reveal the deep influence of mind-altering drugs on Western science, philosophy, and culture.
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear
Carl Hart
Sinopsis en inglés: “Hart’s argument that we need to drastically revise our current view of illegal drugs is both powerful and timely . . . when it comes to the legacy of this country’s war on drugs, we should all share his outrage.” —The New York Times Book Review
From one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, a powerful argument that the greatest damage from drugs flows from their being illegal, and a hopeful reckoning with the possibility of their use as part of a responsible and happy life
Dr. Carl L. Hart, Ziff Professor at Columbia University and former chair of the Department of Psychology, is one of the world’s preeminent experts on the effects of so-called recreational drugs on the human mind and body. Dr. Hart is open about the fact that he uses drugs himself, in a happy balance with the rest of his full and productive life as a researcher and professor, husband, father, and friend. In Drug Use for Grown-Ups, he draws on decades of research and his own personal experience to argue definitively that the criminalization and demonization of drug use–not drugs themselves–have been a tremendous scourge on America, not least in reinforcing this country’s enduring structural racism.
Dr. Hart did not always have this view. He came of age in one of Miami’s most troubled neighborhoods at a time when many ills were being laid at the door of crack cocaine. His initial work as a researcher was aimed at proving that drug use caused bad outcomes. But one problem kept cropping up: the evidence from his research did not support his hypothesis. From inside the massively well-funded research arm of the American war on drugs, he saw how the facts did not support the ideology. The truth was dismissed and distorted in order to keep fear and outrage stoked, the funds rolling in, and Black and brown bodies behind bars.
Drug Use for Grown-Ups will be controversial, to be sure: the propaganda war, Dr. Hart argues, has been tremendously effective. Imagine if the only subject of any discussion about driving automobiles was fatal car crashes. Drug Use for Grown-Ups offers a radically different vision: when used responsibly, drugs can enrich and enhance our lives. We have a long way to go, but the vital conversation this book will generate is an extraordinarily important step.
Stahl’s Essential Psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific Basis and Practical Applications
Stephen M. Stahl
Sinopsis en inglés: Long established as the preeminent source in its field, the eagerly anticipated fifth edition of Dr Stahl’s essential textbook of psychopharmacology is here! With its use of icons and figures that form Dr Stahl’s unique ‘visual language’, the book is the single most readable source of information on disease and drug mechanisms for all students and mental health professionals seeking to understand and utilize current therapeutics, and to anticipate the future for novel medications. Every aspect of the book has been updated, with the clarity of explanation that only Dr Stahl can bring. The new edition includes over 500 new or refreshed figures, an intuitive color scheme, fourteen new uses for older drugs and eighteen brand new drugs, coverage of Parkinson’s Disease Psychosis, behavioural symptoms of dementia, and mixed features in major depressive episodes, and expanded information on the medical uses of cannabis and hallucinogen assisted psychotherapy.
High: Everything You Want to Know About Drugs, Alcohol, and Addiction
David Sheff (Autor), Nic Sheff
Sinopsis en inglés: “All parents should have this book on hand, and use it to open important dialogues with their kids. Arm them with knowledge.” —Ellen Hopkins, best-selling author of the Crank trilogy.
Just Say Know! With drug education for children more important than ever, this nonfiction book draws on the experiences of the New York Times best-selling father/son team, and inspiration behind the film Beautiful Boy, David and Nic Sheff to provide all the information teens need to know about drugs, alcohol, and addiction.
From David Sheff, author of Beautiful Boy (2008), and Nic Sheff, author of Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines (2008), comes the ultimate resource for learning about the realities of drugs and alcohol for middle grade readers.
This book tells it as it is, with testimonials from peers who have been there and families who have lived through the addiction of a loved one, along with the cold, hard facts about what drugs and alcohol do to our bodies. From how to navigate peer pressure to outlets for stress to the potential consequences of experimenting, Nic and David Sheff lay out the facts so that middle grade readers can educate themselves.
Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich
Norman Ohler
Sinopsis en inglés: A New York Times bestseller, Norman Ohler’s Blitzed is a «fascinating, engrossing, often dark history of drug use in the Third Reich” (Washington Post).
The Nazi regime preached an ideology of physical, mental, and moral purity. Yet as Norman Ohler reveals in this gripping history, the Third Reich was saturated with drugs: cocaine, opiates, and, most of all, methamphetamines, which were consumed by everyone from factory workers to housewives to German soldiers.
In fact, troops were encouraged, and in some cases ordered, to take rations of a form of crystal meth—the elevated energy and feelings of invincibility associated with the high even help to account for the breakneck invasion that sealed the fall of France in 1940, as well as other German military victories. Hitler himself became increasingly dependent on injections of a cocktail of drugs—ultimately including Eukodal, a cousin of heroin—administered by his personal doctor.
Thoroughly researched and rivetingly readable, Blitzed throws light on a history that, until now, has remained in the shadows.
“Delightfully nuts.”—The New Yorker
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