Mary Jane, Marijuana, Weed, Pot, the list goes on...

            Although it is a pastime I do not partake in, I found the topic of marijuana and conscious altering substances interesting – topic only. Most of you already know how I feel about the writing, but that is a different story. One question I had not given much thought to before and about the only question that intrigued me was “…why is it forbidden?” It cannot be any more damaging than regular smoking or more mind-altering than alcohol. The addiction from it is no more harmful than regular cigarettes. I thought about it for a bit before sitting back and concluding I had no answer to it, so I read on. Of course in true Pollan fashion, he presents us with a question then takes the longest route to it as possible. A story of his garden and a re-enactment of his somewhat humerous run in with the police were very much sidetracked and just when I thought Pollan was getting back on track on page 127 with “Did Marijuana possess a grave threat to Public Health…?” he diverts his discussion again. And yet again he goes to find “The real story” in Amsterdam.

            “I began to piece together the story of how American gardeners…” blah blah blah. It is sentences such as these that bother me; now he has the story, not a story, as if he has alone uncovered the truth and will educate us now. Maybe I am being cynical and tedious now because I already dislike his writing, but it is the little things that make a difference when writing.

            The history he has uncovered continued and was not without its interesting facts. I enjoyed the section regarding religion and sacred plants. I find it neat how culture ties into psychoactive plants and fungi. However nothing really grabbed me until I came across Richard Dawkins’ name. As a big fan of Dawkins and his views on evolution I was immediately intrigued. I was surprised to see Pollan actually liked Dawkins’ perspective on psychoactive plants on culture.

Wait…Did Pollan and I just agree on something?

            As quickly as he sparked my attention with Dawkins, Pollan lost me again when he started describing his own encounters with marijuana again. I continued to read through the scientific section on THC as that made sense and was relevant, but was still rather mind numbing.

            Allyn Howlett described being “high” as cognitive dysfunction which met approval with me. Pollan goes on to discuss that these scientists do not yet fully understand consciousness which I found very interesting. I feel like that is a very multidiscipline field of biochemistry and even psychology. I would be excited to hear more about this. (P.s. Chocolate slows the breakdown of THC? Does this have any relation to “The Munchies?”)

            Pollan, yet again, lost me for a bit. I read but just can’t help from zoning out as I do so. I reappeared at Aldous Huxley. I wasn’t surprised, but was interested in the part about visionaries. Huxley proposed that the mystic visionaries were a result of a lack of nutrition and vitamin deficiencies which “wreak havoc on brain function and probably explain a large portion of visionary experiences in the past.” I loved this quote. It completely fits my belief systems and views on the supernatural world; it was perfect.

            I did not have much to say on this weeks writings. Not much stood out as it is not a subject I choose to involve myself in. The last section of this chapter was a disappointment to me because he still did not answer the question he proposed at the beginning of this chapter: Why is Marijuana illegal? Oh well, I’ll just add that to my list of things to research on my own.

Nature is Neat

Desert Plants and the Creosote Bush

 

The first paragraph of Desert Plants had me captured. There is no pretentious demeanour and yet they describe a story and their experiences. The author states no “facts,” merely what they found interesting and their observations about it on their empirical experiences. I think this is a well written piece.

            There was a two paragraph section on the second page where the author eats a mesquite pod atole that really caught my attention. The elderly lady serving this to our author states that it is easy to make and quite nutritious, but the reason it is not made anymore is due to laziness. The current generation thinks “…food must come only from the [big supermarkets].” At first read of this I thought, “what a typical old lady,” but as I read further I was enlightened by the authors comment “It is easy to dismiss such remarks as typical of any oldtimer unsettled by the younger generation’s enthrallment with the trappings of the material world.” I immediately realized I had passed judgement on this without thinking as to the author’s next paragraph which continued to describe that this lady does not hate modern society and what it has brought her. She utilizes its many of today’s luxuries such as medical care, transportation and electronic communications. This elderly lady was merely trying to state that as a society we have lost our resourceful ways by profiting from what is around us – which I may add, is exactly right. Kudos to those who grow any of their own food.

            I found it interesting later in the reading when the author is speaking of these few select desert plants and says they helped shape and succour cultures in the Sonoran Desert. I think every culture had a few select crops or plants native to that region that helped them survive that particular environment. It was neat to see this particular cultures catalyst. How neat is that?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm3JodBR-vs

I also enjoyed the link between plants and the people’s homeland and past “…serving as a conservative element to slow change,” and how looking into a family’s kitchen will determine their ethnic origin. This thought lead into nutrition which I also took great interest in. I especially liked Nicholas Hildyard’s quote because, you know what? It is true that nutritionists are needed in those societies whose culture has broken down. Exactly where those who have lost touch with how their culture used to thrive off of the land they were situated on.  à This chapter had to be one of the best readings yet.

“Winter” did not start off with the bang that Desert Plants did. I was expecting a similar story with more interesting adventures, but the opening did not produce. I did not realize there was so much to write on creosote. It was interesting in a sense because I have only known creosote as the harmful chemical that prevents wood rot (and is not legal anymore) for use on docks and whatnot. I did not know why creosote was used for this, I assumed it was a synthetic chemical only to find out it is natural and deters pests and herbivores (though I’m sure the commercial creosote has other additives). Apparently only the grasshopper can handle it, way to go little dude! Although it was used for curing worms, syphilis and used in other remedies for humans. I thought this stuff was poisonous? The later paragraphs prove me wrong, though I did note that it may have detrimental effects on the kidneys leading to my final verdict: No I do not want to use this plant. This portion of the chapter I found much more interesting than the beginning.

The testimonial at the end of this chapter sounded a little farfetched, but then again, I am a great sceptic when it comes to miraculous healings. But you know what, if it works for her then why stop? (Even if it is a placebo effect) The mind is a powerful thing - especially when it comes to health.

The Apple, or everything BUT the apple?

Appleseed, huh. This is the guy who introduced cider to the world – a cosmopolite, barefooted drunk – lovely. As you may have been able to tell, I did not enjoy this chapter. Michael Pollan is quickly working his way up my list of people I despise. Not because of what he writes, but how he writes. First off I would have much preferred a timeline of the apple rather than the life of Johnny Appleseed. I would even go as far as to compare Pollan to Michael Moore. Yes they raise good points but I struggle (a possible understatement) with how they present their “data.” Maybe it is the choice of words they use: “…nortions of health and wholesomeness turns out to be a modern invention, part of a public relations campaign dreamed up by the apple industry…” Modern invention and dreamed up are very strong accusations versus the apple industry without little more than Johnny Appleseed’s life story. Even if he has done more research, he has not presented enough to us to justify his harsh view points. It was seen again on page 22.

Maybe this seems petty of me to see this, but it is these small things that I see throughout the writings of Pollan that infect and invalidate the evidence he puts forward. Of course I do not completely dismiss his writings because yes, there is good research and points in there. But it most certainly makes me question his very empirical style of book. Definitely the redeeming feature of this chapter was Pollan’s reference to Henry David Thoreau, a fantastic author and inspiring person.

Of course I found the section on alcohol interesting. Not that I’m a big drinker, I just found it interesting how it shaped certain communities and cultures. Because it was so accessible and more likely to be sanitary to drink than water it was consumed more – even for children.  

Page 28…why are we reading about Johnny Appleseeds feet and later on into his general life? This continues too! This chapter name is a bit misleading. “The Apple” describes the first 5 pages, then it becomes ramblings by a man whose writing I dislike – especially after his suggested slander of Thoreau having a “polymorphous love with nature.” Good try Pollan.

Finally on page 45 Pollan gets back to the actual apple by using the author he has previously disgraced. He uses Thoreau to discuss the great apple rush and its spread throughout America. He describes a bit of the diversity and varieties of apples, but overall I found this reading rather mundane. Sorry Lyn! Pollan is not my favourite author.