A survey of seven widely used intoxicants traces their botanical origins, mythic and historical uses, global distribution, methods of consumption, and social customs surrounding them. Chapters combine antiquarian anecdotes and traveler reports to describe opium, tobacco, hemp/haschisch, coca, betel/buyer, solanaceous poisons like stramonium and henbane, and psychoactive fungi such as amanita; treatments of manufacture, trade, legal and religious objections, public health concerns, and cultural practices are included. The text mixes popular history with practical notes, comparative statistics, museum references, and an appendix of tabulated data to aid understanding of consumption, commerce, and remedies associated with each narcotic.