[.ca] Opium for the Masses: A Practical Guide to Growing ... (ISBN 1559501146)

Good history of opium but not worth the money:
This book is a decent overall history of opium use with a bit of the authors two cents thrown in.The aftertitle is very decieving though since a very minute portion of the book is dedicated to telling the reader about the extraction process even though the information is correct.I gave it three stars because the content is good but the opium extraction methods and preparation techniques are widely available on the internet for free so,basically the book is a waste of money for that purpose.Vaults of Erowid and the Lycaeum give all this information with no charge and tons more,save your money folks. Ponder the arcane workings of capitalism...

Dated, flawed, but a fun read:
One thing to keep in mind - this was published in 1994 - an age ago in info terms. There's more info available through two minutes on Google than there is in this book - but there certainly wasn't ten years ago. It's true that Hogshire is recklessly optimistic about the joys of 'opium' use - actually, what he's talking about is poppy tea. However, every bell curve has two ends. There are some who will get hooked with their first mug o' tea - and some who can take it and leave it alone. Yes, it's possible to sample opium and not get addicted - but frankly, the odds are against it. I gave this book three stars for entertainment value. More complete or accurate information would have warranted four, at least. But it is an interesting relic of the days when information like this was obscure and hard to find.

Practical Schmractical... Guide Scmide:
First off the title is simply false advertisement. There is definitely nothing practical about this book at least not having to do with "growing poppies or making opium." Although in a life boat situation it would make a practical source of toilet paper. It is incredibly informative if you have never heard words opium or poppy before. Definitely not for anyone of any intelligence to profit from. I wouldn't even rate this book with one star if i had that choice, it was written purely to profit monetarily from a catchy title. 100 pages of a guy shooting his spun wad in your ear ",oh yeah it's warm, do you like that? is that what you want to here? tell daddy what you want to here" SQUIRT 4 pages of source material I dont think he even read but simply listed to fill-in all the gaps left in his b.s. (and by b.s. I don't bachelor of science). Seriously for the money and on the subject there are books infinitely more valuable. Go to books also purchased by people who purchased this one pick one at random it couldn't be worse. If for some reason you do purchase this book don't expect a practical guide to anything. By the way I am pro-freedom pro-knowledge I am anti-this book because I don't think it took two days to write and it is negligent to title it as he does ( a book like this would be marketed to 12 year olds in a free america and it would be below there readig level). By the way kids just a rule of thumb "never take more than you can handle and always know your dealer"

Don't be a fool.:
I am in fact, a card-carrying member of the ACLU. I don't believe that there are "dangerous books" any more than I think there are "dangerous ideas". I do believe that the danger of ignorance is incalculable. What Mr. Hogshire has rendered here is a thin monograph of mis-information, dis-information and outright lies. Following Mr. Hogshire's advice I took my self down to West 28th street and bought a bunch of dried ornamental poppies. I ground them, sifted them, made tea out of them, drank it and got as high as I have ever been. As a point of reference, I have had morphine for a broken leg; this tea was both stronger and longer lasting. Like all narcotics occasional use led to daily use which led to addiction and to a nightmare of recovery that took over a year out of my productive life. I very nearly ruined my marriage, my career and everything else that mattered to me. Finally in abject humiliation and with the deepest gratitude I found people who could and did end my nightmare. My life is improving as is my health, but I have a long way to go to make up for the lies I told everyone including myself. These are the facts. Opium in it's raw state is many time more addictive than Heroine, as some of it's many active components have a significantly longer serum half-life than heroine. Figuratively, for those of you that aren't doctors, this means that this stuff gets in your bones and wont let go for weeks. Opium destroyed the nation of China, laying such vast waste to its people that it took nearly a century for it to recover. Many foreign observers felt that the death penalty for opium use imposed by the Communist government was draconian. It was, rather, the only way to cut this cancer out of their society. My advice: if you want to read about opium, read about the opium wars in China in the nineteenth century. Or read Mr. Hogshire's little book. But please don't think that because Mr. Hogshire wrote it is true. It in fact flies in the face of every scientific medical fact known about opium. That this plant's dark, dark magic has held a fascination for mankind since there's been a mankind is interesting. I would expect that you wouldn't need to fire a bullet through your brain to confirm what is known about ballistic injuries. I would equally expect that you wouldn't need to voluntarily take an unholy poison to prove what has been well known to medical science for centuries or more.