Dear Michael Pollan, it is possible to overdose on psychedelics and poppy seed tea
I am a big fan of the work of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). I respect the decades of difficult work they have done in researching the medical uses of psychedelic substances. And so, I’m sad to say that I am disappointed with their latest podcast, an interview with Michael Pollan.
I really enjoyed Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind. I think it may have opened people up more to psychedelics in our culture. The reason he was on MAPS podcast Episode 46 was because he released a new book This is Your Mind on Plants. I haven’t read it yet. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a good read too.
My issue with this podcast, is Michael made a couple of incorrect statements that could be very dangerous and could greatly set back decades of work against unjust drug laws and recognition of certain controlled substances as medically useful, if people rely on these statements as facts.
The dangerous and incorrect statements are as follows:
“While the DEA is focused on a bunch of gardeners fooling around with poppies to make what is really a fairly mild narcotic tea, which is, you know, served at funerals in the Middle East, to lift the pain of grieving, you know, it’s an interesting experience, but not overwhelming in anyway. And I seriously doubt anyone’s overdosed from poppy tea. You’d have to drink a lot of it. But at the same time Oxycontin, that same summer, is being introduced by Purdue Pharma and sold to us and sowing the real seeds of disaster. Which is to say the opioid crisis.”
There are a number of documented overdoses of poppy seed tea. One of the big issues with using poppy seed tea, is the quantity of active chemicals can vary wildly.[1] This means that using the same weight of poppy seeds one time could be a pleasant experience, using the same weight another time could produce no noticeable effect, and on a different occasion, it may lead to death.
Though certain pharmaceutical companies and doctors made grave mistakes handling and promoting new synthetic opioids, at least the dose of the active ingredient is clearly marked.
Regarding psychedelics, Pollan says:
“They’re not addictive. They don’t appear to do as much damage to people because of that. There’s no overdose risk.”
Wait. No. What? Please, you are a journalist and author who has published two books on drug use. You should know better.
While there may be little or no risk of death by overdose from the most popular psychedelics such as psilocybin mushrooms and LSD, there certainly are psychedelics that have caused fatal overdoses. Please, please, please if you are going to take drugs, research them before you consume them. Erowid.org and psychonautwiki are good resources.
A few overdose deaths have been reported due to the psychedelic compounds Bromo-dragonfly, 2C-T-7, 25C-NBOME, 25I-NBOMe. Even if you’ve never heard of these drugs, we don’t want people to hear “all psychedelics are safe with no risk of overdose” and upon being offered a new psychedelic compound, to consume it assuming there is no risk of overdose. And worse still, unscrupulous or ignorant dealers may sometimes sell Bromo-dragonfly, 25C-NBOME or 25I-NBOMe as LSD, because they can all fit onto blotter paper and cannot easily be distinguished without a reagent test.
I’m sad that Michael Pollan wasn’t more careful with his words. I’m also sad that MAPS let this go to air without either cutting or correcting these dangerous statements.
I hope these mistakes are not repeated by either side and that everyone stays safe and responsible if they choose to use.
This article contains affiliate links.
