Helical high

Probably the greatest hazard of hallucinogens is that susceptible users may
waste the rest of their lives constructing bad poetry, metaphor-bending Theories
of Everything. In The Cosmic Serpent, Jeremy Narby argues—if that’s not
too strong a word—that using natural drugs as shamans do offers direct
access to knowledge of the whole world’s DNA. Trouble is, people are buying it.
Published by Gollancz, £15.99, ISBN 0575066148.