by Winifred Rosen, Andrew T. Weil
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Product Description
From Chocolate to Morphine is the definitive guide to drugs and drug use from one of America's most respected and best-known doctors. This enormously popular book — the best and most authoritative resource for unbiased information about how drugs affect the mind and the body — covers a wide range of available substances, from coffee to marijuana, antihistamines to psychedelics, steroids to smart drugs, and discusses likely effects, precautions, and alternatives. Now expanded and updated to cover such drugs as oxycontin, Ecstasy, Prozac, and ephedra and to address numerous ongoing issues, including the United States' war on drugs, marijuana for therapeutic use, the overuse of drugs for children diagnosed with ADHD, and more, From Chocolate to Morphine is an invaluable resource.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Excellent book, I'm buying it!, 2008-04-30
This is such a great book. I'm happy Dr. Weil wrote it.
It is very informative, and shows the truth as well as it can.
It also has a great section of the drugs that arise naturally within the human body, and how external drugs just trigger your body to notice the highs etc. I learned alot from this book. I've gone on to check for Weil's other works, he is so great. It talks about all the drugs, their safety, myths etc... most importantly the truth behind them, which is not influenced by propaganda.
I highly recommend this work.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 GREAT INFORMATION, 2008-02-09
Its very informational and is exactly what i wanted. Read this book if your interested in find out about all different kinds of drugs for either ur own knowlege or for a paper for school
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Forget DARE -- Teach From This Book in Schools, 2007-05-13
The title really says everything that needs to be said. This is a wonderful, unbiased book that's almost 100% scientifically accurate, which is far more than can be said about most books that purport to tell you everything you need to know about drugs and/or drug use and especially about drug users.
EDIT: After reading other reviews I've discovered that there's a lot of misunderstanding about the purpose of FCtM. It's meant to be a basic primer on responsible drug use -- not an encyclopedia of every bit of information about specific drugs, not a guide to the Nasty Gritty World of Drug Abuse, and not a DARE handbook. If you read it expecting something it's not intended to give, you'll be disappointed. It is a basic handbook that attempts to teach conservative, sensible methods for using drugs (including caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs our society approves of) intelligently, safely, and hence responsibly. If that's what you're looking for, continue. If not, keep looking. (But you should read it anyway to shed your biases, just in case.)
I do not have any real problems with the book or with Dr. Weil's work in general. Things have happened since 2004, including extremely important new scientific information on the role of GABA and endorphins in anxiety and depression, which Dr. Weil and Ms. Rosen may or may not have been aware of and which has enormous implications regarding the use and abuse of heroin and other opiates.
The only out-and-out error I've noticed thus far in the book is a statement that claims the prescription medicine Adderall contains 'dextroamphetamine and methamphetamine'. It contains d-amp. and amphetamine, not methamphetamine.
He is more cautious than I would be, and I disagree with some of his conclusions (for example, that certain routes of administration are inherently abusive and/or more dangerous than others); compared to what else is out there and what others have said and done, however, this is an incredible book with few, if any, true peers in quality and comprehensiveness.
This book will not completely correct the damage done by DARE and years of social conditioning, but it will certainly help. It should be required reading in Health class for every single high schooler, at least. Enough said.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
Intro to History, Uses & Properties of Psychoactive Drugs., 2005-02-26
"From Chocolate to Morphine" (2004 edition) attempts to be a basic encyclopedic reference of psychoactive drugs and their uses, whose goal is to provide objective information on the risks and benefits of prescription, over-the-counter, illegal, and natural drugs for a modern audience living in a very drug-soaked society. The authors, Dr. Andrew Weil and Winifred Rosen, are forthright about their perspective: "We cannot say that we have no biases about drugs, but we think that we know what our biases are." They don't generally encourage or discourage recreational drug use. Instead, they repeatedly emphasize the necessity of education and avoiding dependency if one is to use drugs beneficially. I say "generally", because the authors' tone betrays obvious disdain for a few drugs and affection for some others.
The authors outline their viewpoint and purpose in the book's first chapter, where they also offer some rather silly advice to parents, teachers, and teens on communicating about drugs. But the book improves from there. Chapters 2-5 provide basic information: What is a Drug, Why People Use Drugs, Relationships with Drugs, and Types of Drugs. This is followed by chapters on Stimulants, Depressants, Psychedelics, Marijuana, a sort of catch-all chapter on Solvents and Inhalants/Deliriants/PCP and Ketamine, and Medical Drugs/Herbal Remedies/Smart Drugs. The information on each drug is not what I would call complete, and it probably isn't meant to be. Caffeine is handled poorly. Its immunosuppressant, diuretic, and damaging effects on the linings of blood vessels are not mentioned. On the other hand, the cases against tobacco and alcohol may be overstated. The book is very hard on heroin, speaks well of marijuana, but omits glaucoma treatment when discussing medicinal uses. The authors don't like anti-depressants, especially SSRIs. I can't say that I blame them, but, oddly, they are more harsh when discussing antihistamines. Descriptions for each drug contain history and basic information on uses, effects, and dangers. One of the best features of "From Chocolate to Morphine" is the Suggested Reading at the end of each chapter, which provides a list of related books and films for those readers who would like more detailed information.
The final chapters of the book address Problems with Drugs, Alternatives to Drugs, and the authors give us some Final Words on the subject of drug use -including some interesting advice regarding the treatment of drug addiction. The Appendix contains about 40 pages of interesting "First Person Accounts and Comments" on drug use, and is followed by a glossary and an index. Dr. Andrew Weil and Winifred Rosen don't hide their contempt for the current drug hysteria and drug policies in the United States. Nor do they deny how easy it is to become dependent on drugs if they are used carelessly or for the wrong reasons. "From Chocolate to Morphine" isn't a definitive work on psychoactive drugs, but it's a good primer that is easy to read. Those who intend to use any of these drugs on a regular basis will want more detailed information, for which the Suggested Reading sections are excellent guides.
9 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
 Not for kid's education!, 2004-07-09
This book was recommended to me as an educational tool for my pre-teen children...NO WAY! I felt like the book did not address the dangers of the drugs at all. In fact, if anything, I would want to try some of the drugs after reading about them (if I didn't know better)!
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