Do non-human animals use psychedelics?

In his seminal book titled Animals and Psychedelics, Italian researcher, and expert in zoopharmacognosy (the ingestion of plant-based drugs by animals) Gorgio Samorini writes:

 

“Entirely on their own and without the influence of captivity or conditioning, wild animals, birds, and even insects… drug themselves.This deliberate seeking of inebriation among all classes of animals is a perfectly natural normative behavior. Indeed, the pursuit of inebriation has been proposed as a kind of fourth drive – akin to hunger, thirst, and sex – so ubiquitous is its manifestation.” (Samorini, 2002).

 

Please click here to read our blog on Animals, Psychedelics, and the Innate Drive to Alter Consciousness.

 

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