He backed toward one side of the room and fell into a tunnel. He ran along the tunnel, no longer afraid, for there was light ahead. He ran like a boy.
The tunnel emerged like a swallow’s nest from the side of a high bank. Far below he saw a jungle clearing in a huge sunlight of the world’s first morning, and in the clearing the Indians awaited him. Naked, he leaped into the radiant air, and fell toward them.
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
, 1991
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Vintage, in particular Susan Sandon for first suggesting I work on an anthology, Caroline Michel for having the faith that I would do so, and Arzu Tahsin for patiently enduring my demands and idiosyncrasies. Much of my own writing has relied on my columns for
Loaded
, and I am grateful for their permission to do this. I would also like to thank Crofton Black, Caroline Brown, Jamie Byng, Mike Jay, and Golly Marks for invaluable assistance in research, editing, and proofreading; Joe McNally, Paul Sieveking, James Oliver, Andy McConnell, The British Library, New York Public Library, Drugscope, Fitzhugh Ludlow Hypertext Collection, Schaffer Library for Drug Policy, Erowid Vaults and Lycaeum.org for the tracking down and loan of rare books. My greatest thanks have to be reserved for Mary Carson, the finest, most tenacious, and best researcher any writer could wish to have.
* * *
The editors and publishers gratefully acknowledge permission from the following to reprint stories or extracts from works in copyright. Every effort has been made to obtain necessary permissions with reference to copyright material. We apologise if inadvertently any sources remain unacknowledged.
STEVEN ABRAMS
: from
The Book of Grass: An Anthology on Indian Hemp
, edited by George Andrews and Simon Vinkenoog (Peter Owen, 1967), reprinted by permission of Peter Owen Ltd, London;
M. AGEYEV
: from
Novel With Cocaine
(Penguin Classics, 1999);
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
: from ‘Perilous Play’ in
Tales of Hashish
by Andrew C. Kimmens (William Morrow, 1977);
SHANA ALEXANDER
: from
The Pizza Connection
(Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1988);
NELSON ALGREN
: from
The Man With The Golden Arm
(Doubleday, 1949), reprinted by permission of Donadio & Olson, Literary Representatives;
JOHN ALLEGRO
: from
The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross
(Abacus, 1970);
STEWART LEE ALLEN
: from
The Devil’s Cup
(Canongate Books, 2000), reprinted by permission of Canongate Books and Soho Press Inc.;
ANONYMOUS
: ‘Beware my friend . . .’ (poem found on the wall of a Jamaican café in Shepherd’s Bush, London); ‘Confessions of a middle-aged Ecstasy eater’ from
The Guardian
(14 July 2001); ‘The African Fang Legends’ from
White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader
, edited by John Miller and Randall Koral (Chronicle Books, 1995);
HARRY ANSLINGER
: from
The Murderers
(Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1961);
ANTONIL
: from
Mama Coca
(Hassle Free Press, 1978);
HARRY ASHER
: ‘They Split my Personality’ from
Saturday Review
(1 June 1963);
BRIAN BARRITT
: from
The Road of Excess
(PSI Publishing, 1998), reprinted by permission of the author and the publisher;
WILLIAM BARTON
: from ‘From A Dissertation on the Chymical Properties and Exhilarating Effects of Nitrous Oxide Gas’ in
Mindscapes: An Anthology of Drug Writings
, edited by Antonio Melechi (Mono, 1998);
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE
: ‘Be You Drunken!’ from
The Idler’s Companion
(1869); ‘The Playground of the Seraphim’, translated by Aleister Crowley, from
The Equinox
, Number 3 (1910);
JACK BEECHING
: from
The Chinese Opium Wars
(Harcourt Trade Publishers, 1977);
CHARLIE BEER
: ‘Dave the Doorman’, published by permission of the author;
BEZ
: from
Freaky Dancin
’ (Pan Books, 1989);
ROBERT BINGHAM
: from
Lightning on the Sun
(Canongate Books, 2001), reprinted by permission of the publisher; VICTOR BORCKIS: from
With William Burroughs
(Fourth Estate, 1997);
JOHN G. BOURKE
: from
Scatological Rites of All Nations
(1891), reprinted in
Artificial Paradises: A Drugs Reader
, edited by Mike Jay (Penguin Books, 1999); T.
CORAGHESSAN BOYLE
: from
Budding Prospects
(Granta Books, 1984);
GARNETT BRENNAN
: ‘Marijuana Witchhunt’ from
Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady: Women’s Writings on the Drug Experience
, edited by Cynthia Palmer and Michael Horowitz (Quill Books, 1982), (c) Evergreen Review, 1967;
WILLIAM BURROUGHS
: from
Junky
(Penguin Books, 1977), and
The Naked Lunch
(Grove Press, 1959);
JAMES M. CAMPBELL:
from ‘On the Religion of Hemp’ (Indian Hemp Drugs Commission, 1893–4);
MORDECAI COOKE
: from
The Seven Sisters of Sleep
(James Blackwood, 1860);
ALEISTER CROWLEY
: from
Diary of a Drug Fiend
(Samuel Weiser, 1970), and
Magick: Part III: Magick in Theory and Practice
(Samuel Weiser, 1991);
GEZA CSATH
: ‘The Surgeon’ (1910) from
The Magician’s Garden and Other Stories
, translated by Jascha Kessler and Charlotte Rogers (Columbia University Press, 1980);
DAILY MIRROR
: an article on marihuana;
RENE DAUMAL
: from
A Fundamental Experiment
, translated by Roger Shattuck (Hanuman Books, 1991);
ROBERT DAVIES
: from
Perfection She Dances
(Mainstream Publishing, 2001), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
MILES DAVIS
: from
The Autobiography
(Simon & Schuster, 1989);
HENRI DE MONFRIED:
from
Hashish
(Penguin Books, 1946);
CHARLES DICKENS:
from
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
(1870, unfinished);
ALEXANDRE DUMAS:
from
The Count of Monte Cristo
(1846), in
Tales of Hashish
by Andrew C. Kimmens (William Morrow, 1976);
ISABELLE EBERHARDT:
from
The Oblivion Seekers
(City Lights Books, 1972), (Peter Owen Publishers, 1988);
JOHNNY EDGECOMBE:
from
Calypso Train
, published by permission of the author;
MOHAMMED EL GUINDY:
‘Opium as an International Problem’, an address given at the
Second International Opium Conference
(1924), from Schaffer Library for Drug Policy, California;
HAVELOCK ELLIS
: from ‘Mescal: A New Artificial Paradise’ (1898), reprinted in
The Hashish Club: An Anthology of Drug Literature
(Volume 1), edited by Peter Haining (Peter Owen, 1975), reprinted by permission of Peter Owen Ltd, London;
THE EQUINOX:
‘Testing Cannabis on Dogs’ from
The Equinox: The Review of Scientific Illuminism
, Volume 1, Number 1 (1909);
ANTONIO ESCOHOTADO:
from
A Brief History of Drugs
(Park Street Press, 1999), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
DAVID EVANS:
a speech in the House of Commons on drugs, from
Hansard
(17 January 1997);
LANRE FEHINTOLA:
from
Charlie Says . . . don’t get high on your own supply: an urban memoir
(Scribner Books, 2000);
MARIA GOLIA:
from
Nile-Eyes
, (c) Maria Golia, 2000, published by permission of the author;
STEPHEN JAY GOULD:
from
Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine
by Lester Grinspoon and James Bakalar. Revised & Expanded Edition (Yale University Press, 1997), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
NIALL GRIFFITHS:
from
Sheepshagger
(Jonathan Cape, 2001), reprinted by permission of the author;
LESTER GRINSPOON:
from
The Trial of Kerry Wiley
(Harvard Medical School); (with James B. Bakalar) from
Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine
. Revised & Expanded Edition (Yale University Press, 1997), (c) 1997 by Yale University Press, reprinted by permission of the publisher;
CHARLIE HALL:
‘The Box’ from
Disco Biscuits
, edited by Sarah Champion (Sceptre, 1997);
JAMES HAWES:
from
Dead Long Enough
(Vintage, 2001), reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd;
HIGH ARCHIVES:
‘China Proposes Death to Drug Addicts – After 1937’ from
Man Bites Man: The Scrapbook of an English Eccentric GEORGE IVES
, edited by Paul Sieveking (Penguin Books, 1981), (c) Jay Landesman, reprinted by permission of Jay Landesman;
JIM HOGSHIRE:
from
Pills-A-Go-Go: A Fiendish Investigation into Pill Marketing, Art, History and Consumption
(Feral House, 1999);
MICHAEL HOLLINGS-HEAD:
from
The Man who Turned on the World
(Blond & Briggs/New English Library, 1973);
JOHN HOPKINS:
from
Tangier Buzzless Flies
(Atheneum, 1972);
HASSAN MOHAMMED IBN-CHIRAZI:
from ‘A Treatise on Hemp’ (1300), reprinted in
Tales of Hashish
by Andrew C. Kimmens (William Morrow, 1976);
JAMES GREY JACKSON:
from
An Account of the Empire of Marocco
(Frank Cass, 1968);
KING JAMES I
: from
Counterblast to Tobacco
(1604);
WILLIAM JAMES
: from
The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature
(1902);
MIKE JAY
: from
Blue Tide: The Search for Soma
(Autonomedia, 1999), reprinted by permission of the author;
PHILIP JENKINS
: from
Synthetic Panics: The Symbolic Politics of Designer Drugs
(New York University Press, 1999) reprinted by permission of the publisher;
RODERICK KALBERER
: from
The Scam
(Coronet, 1995), reprinted by permission of the author and Hodder Headline Plc;
H. H. KANE
: from
The Curious Adventures of an Individual Who Indulged in a Few Pipefuls of the Narcotic Hemp
(1888), from Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library Hypertext Collection, San Francisco;
JULIAN KEELING
: from
Drugstore Cowboy
(The Idler, 1996), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
JONATHAN KELLY
: ‘I Talk To Cows, You Know’, published by permission of the author;
CARL KERENYI
: from
Dionysos
(Princeton University Press, 1976), (c) 1967 by Princeton University Press, reprinted by permission of the publisher;
MAREK KOHN
: from
Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground
(Lawrence & Wishart, 1992);
GEORGE LANE
: from
Early Mongol Rule in 13th century Iran: a Persian Renaissance
(Curzon Press; forthcoming late 2002) reprinted by permission of the publisher;
PETER LAURIE
: from
Drugs
(Pelican Books, 1967);
JAMES LEE
: from
Underworld of the East
(Sampson, Low, Marston & Company, 1935);
MRS FRANK LESLIE
: from ‘California: A Pleasure Trip from Gotham to the Golden Gate’ (April, May, June 1877), from Fitz Hugh Ludlow Memorial Library Hypertext Collection;
JOHN LIGHTFOOT
: from
The Spanish Connection
(Blake Publishing, 1992), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
MEDLAR LUCAN & DURIAN GRAY
: from
The Decadent Gardener
(Dedalus Books, 1998), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
ROBERT LUND
: ‘Mikey’s Tale’ (10 September 1997), reprinted by permission of the author;
ZOE LUND
: ‘Cul de sac’ from
Mobiles
reprinted by permission of Robert Lund;
PETER MCDERMOTT
: ‘Immaculate Injection’, published by permission of the author;
TERENCE MCKENNA
: from
Food of the Gods
(Rider Books, 1992);
HANS MAIER
: from
Der Kokainismus
(1926), reprinted in
Cocaine
by Dominic Streatfield (Virgin Books, 2001); PETER MATTHIESSEN: from
At Play in the Fields of the Lord
, © 1966, reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc.; CHRISTOPHER MAYHEW: ‘An Excursion out of Time’ from
The Observer
(28 October 1956), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
JAMES MILLS
: from
The Underground Empire
(Doubleday, 1974); SUSAN NADLER: from ‘The Butterfly Convention’ in
Shaman Woman, Mainline Lady: Women’s Writings and the Drug Experience
, edited by Cynthia Palmer and Michael Horowitz (Quill Books, 1982), © 1976 by Susan Nadler;
JEREMY NARBY
: from
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
(Gollancz, 1998); R. K. NEWMAN: ‘Opium Smoking in Late Imperial China: A Reconsideration’ from
Modern Asian Sudies
, 29:4 (1995), © Cambridge University Press, reprinted by permission of the publisher; CHARLES NICHOLL: from
The Fruit Palace
(Heinemann, 1985), reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates; FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE: from
Twilight of the Idols, translated by R. J. Hollingdale (Penguin Classics, 1990); WILLIAM NOVAK: from
High Culture
(Alfred A. Knopf, 1980), © 1980 by William Novak, reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House Inc;
BRIDGET
O’CONNOR: ‘Heavy Petting’ from
Intoxication: An Anthology of Stimulant-based writing
, edited by Toni Davidson (Serpent’s Tail, 1998); JASON PARKINSON: ‘Acid. The Journey through Living Room Walls’, and ‘Skateboards and Methadone’, published by permission of the author;
JOHN BAPTISTA PORTA
: from ‘Women are Made to cast Off Their Clothes and Go Naked’ in
Wildest Dreams: An Anthology of Drug-Related Literature
, edited by Richard Rudgley (Little, Brown & Company, 1999) reprinted by permission of Richard Rudgley; DAWN F. ROONEY: from
Betel Chewing Traditions in South-East Asia
(Oxford University Press, 1993);
HARVEY ROTTENBERG
: from ‘Planted, Burnt, and Busted’ from
Getting Busted
, edited by Ross Firestone (Penguin Books, 1972);
KEVIN RUSHBY:
from
Eating the Flowers of Paradise
(Flamingo, 1999);
ROBERT SABBAG
: from
Smokescreen
(Canongate Books; forthcoming February 2002), and
Snowblind
(Canongate Books, 1998), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
KEVIN SAMPSON:
from
Outlaws
(Jonathan Cape, 2001), reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd and Peters Fraser & Dunlop Group Ltd on behalf of the author;
R. E. SCHULTES & R. RAFFAUF:
from
Vine of the Soul
(Synergetic Press, 1992);
ALEXANDER & ANN SHULGIN:
from
Pihkal: A Chemical Love Story
(Transform Press, 1991), and
Tihkal: The Continuation
(Transform Press, 1997), reprinted by permission of the authors;
RONALD K. SIEGEL:
from
Intoxication: Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise
(E. P. Dutton, 1989);
TIM MACKINTOSH SMITH:
from
Yemen: Travels in Dictionary Land
(Picador, 1999);
TIM SOUTHWELL:
from
Getting Away With It
(Ebury Press, 2001), reprinted by permission of The Random House Group Ltd;
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON:
from
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
(1886);
DOMINIC STREATFIELD:
from
Cocaine
(Virgin Books, 2001), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
ROBERT SVOBODA:
from
Aghora, At the Left Hand of God
(Brotherhood of Life, 1986), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
THOMAS SZASZ:
from
Ceremonial Chemistry
(Anchor/Doubleday, 1974);
BAYARD TAYLOR:
from ‘Hasheesh’ in
White Rabbit: A Psychedelic Reader
, edited by John Miller and Randall Koral (Chronicle Books, 1995);
DEREK TAYLOR:
from
It Was Twenty Years Ago Today
(Simon & Schuster, 1987) reprinted by permission of Transworld publishers;
HUNTER S. THOMPSON:
from
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
(Paladin, 1972);
OLAF TYARANSEN:
from
The Story of O
(Hot Press Books, 2000), reprinted by permission of the publisher;
UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT:
Decision in the Case of Terrell Don Hutto v Roger Trenton Davis (11 January 1982);
STUART WALTON:
from
Out Of It
(Hamish Hamilton, 2001);
EDWARD HUNTINGTON
WILLIAMS
: ‘Negro Cocaine “Fiends” New Southern Menace’ in
New York Times
(8 February 1914), from Schaffer Library of Drug Policy, California;
ELIZABETH WURTZEL
: from
Prozac Nation
(Quartet Books, 1996), reprinted by permission of the publisher