This is a book about a controversial, even taboo, subject. It deals with a group of drugs which affect the mind and affect it profoundly. Some people say that these drugs disorganize and disrupt mental activity, others feel that they organize and integrate the mind. Some call the drugs hallucinogens and claim they produce a temporary madness, others call them psychedelics and assert that they induce valuable states of self-transcendence and mystical unity. These differences are part of the controversy. This is a book about a controversial, even taboo, subject. It deals with a group of drugs which affect the mind and affect it profoundly. Some people say that these drugs disorganize and disrupt mental activity, others feel that they organize and integrate the mind. Some call the drugs hallucinogens and claim they produce a temporary madness, others call them psychedelics and assert that they induce valuable states of self-transcendence and mystical unity. These differences are part of the controversy.