"Jay is our foremost cultural historian of psychotropic substances and this is a fascinating and brilliantly researched account. Mescaline emerges out of the generic haze of 'psychedelics' as a particular substance with its own particular history."
-- Marcus Boon, author of The Road of Excess

"A fine book. Jay tells a fascinating story with style. He handles a large cast of often eccentric and difficult individuals with sensitivity and deals expertly with the varied cultural, anthropological, racial and legal issues."
-- William Bynum, author of The History of Medicine