Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: Opium and Tobacco Summary and Analysis

McKenna discusses the paradoxical attitudes to two different intoxicating plants - opium and tobacco. Although both have demonstrated an addictive nature, opium (from the opium poppy and used to create heroin and morphine) is illegal in most parts of the world, and tobacco, despite its association with negative health outcomes, is legal in all countries. He notes that this is a characteristic of the dominator model - picking and choosing which truths it believes. If looked at objectively, the two plant-based substances produce similar societal consequences and should be treated equally. However, extraneous factors influence these attitudes unfairly.

The custom of smoking for narcotic purposes and tobacco are native to the New World. When Columbus introduced tobacco to Europe, it was quickly adopted throughout in several forms...