Mike Jay, the UK’s foremost historian of psychoactive plants, joins us to talk about the deeply strange hallucinogen / drug / medicine / sacrament mescaline - a substance derived from the peyote cactus. Whilst other psychedelic compounds are more popular - and much more in the news - Mike tells us why mescaline was actually the very first psychedelic.
We hear strange stories of drug use in 19th century London, Native American medicine ceremonies - and Bovril..

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You can find out more about Mike's work and his ground-breaking book ‘Mescaline: A Global History of the First Psychedelic’ at www.mikejay.net