Cannabis, Forgetting, and the Botany of Desire

"The Omnivore's Dilemma was great, and after hearing Pollan speak at the Drue Heinz lecture series a few months ago, I decided to read one of his earlier books. Though there are a few too many desultory odes to Nature's grand wisdom, The Botany of Desire is a satisfying and informative read about four species of plants that Pollan claims have domesticated us (as opposed to us domesticating them): the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. Each chapter pits Apollo (order) against Dionysus (passion, disorder), with Man and Nature constantly switching camps. Man wants neatly ordered rows of genetically modified potato monocultures to support the food industry, or dense but tidy marijuana clones to provide a good high, but that high itself is Dionysian. Straight-stemmed tulips are the epitome of Apollonian perfection, but the \broken\"" ones infected by a virus that creates wild, Dionysian splashes of color but weakens the plant were the cause of the great tulip speculation in Holland (and the subsequent stock market crash). The chapters on apples and tulips are interesting, but those on marijuana and potatoes are far better, delving into genetic engineering and scary prospects, such as irremediable property seizure for mere suspicion of growing pot, or proprietary seeds that grow sterile plants. (Which Monsanto loves, of course, because they can sell farmers new seeds the following year.)