Psychedelics Encyclopedia

by Peter G. Stafford

Traces the history of the use of hallucinogenic drugs and discusses the psychological and physical effects of LSD, marijuana, mescaline, and other drugs.

Genres: Drugs, Nonfiction, Psychology, Science, Reference, Spirituality

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book.

Very very knowledgeable author giving copious informative facts about the seven main groups of psychedelics.

Each chapter includes a history, ethnobotanical information, psychological and physiological effects of the drug, after effects, and how to test purity of each drug.

The writing style is informative yet semi-conversational without being overly scientific.

A fascinating read all round.

[Nigel Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference for anyone interested in the social, cultural and pharmacologic aspects of the main families of pyschedelic drugs.

[Derek Frasure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great resource. Some stuff is out of date (especially the marijuana chapter, and there's a heavy use of Freudian and Jungian psychoanalytic frames). But given that psychedelic research only recently resumed, and half of what has is just rediscovering what was already known out of some bizarre refusal to read the literature, most of this is still relevant and up-to-date. In fact, there's a lot of answers one can find here that don't appear in far more contemporary resources like Psychonaut Wiki.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

DRUGS DRUGS DRUGS EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING HIGH.
Also, it's educational enough to fool your 'rents into thinking you're learning about stuff, when really, you're learning how to get more high.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a bedtime book while visiting Walter and Karen in Vermont, finding it filled with intriguing information about common and some very uncommon psychoactive drugs--all of it accurate so far as I understand these matters.

[Chris Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Met Peter Stafford in Santa Cruz years ago...right around the time Timothy Leary passed away...

[Mandy Partridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well-thumbed book landed open on the page where the researchers gave Spiders hash, LSD, caffeine and mescaline, and photographed the webs they built while tripping. Five stars.

[W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A major portion of the book is dedicated exclusively to LSD; there isn't much on more obscure, documented hallucinogens used religiously throughout history. After the extensive sections on the "classics", there's mostly brief, superficial entries on traditionally important substances such as Datura and Amanita Muscaria, which is understandable, but disappointing.

[Kane Kanerva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiukkaa faktaa välillä jopa hauskasti.

[furious · Rating 4 out of 5]

good reference.