Review: Ancient Psychoactive Substances, edited by Scott M. Fitzpatrick,, 2018. Gainesville (FL): University Press of Florida ; ISBN 978-0-8130-5670-8 hardback $95. 340 pp., 72 b&w illustrations, 1 table

[...]the presentation of the volume overall is somewhat disjointed, jumping between broad, multi-regional studies and focused, context-specific analyses. According to many contributing authors, ingestion of entheogens indeed revolved around rituals ranging from funerary practices to feasting. The correlation of psychoactive substances with religion and ritual risks presenting a myopic vision of drug use in the ancient past and can be problematic when such conclusions rely on weak supporting evidence. [...]one needs only to consider consumption of cannabis and alcohol in contemporary western culture in order to find pertinent counter-examples to the ritualized usages of inebriants in therapeutic and medical contexts, as well as for recreation, celebration, or even for personal transformation and spiritual journeys (Ferrara 2016; Pollan 2018; Richards 2015). Alongside the focus on ritual is also an assumption that the presence of material culture associated with psychoactive drugs indicates use of a drug for its mind-altering effects, even with few ways to measure potency and dosage.