by: Zeno Yeates, Sid Richardson ’10

Consider the relationship between the bee and the rose. One may wonder about the nature of this relationship and the manner in which it developed. Although conventional knowledge holds that the bee adapted to the pollination patterns of the rose, some consider the reciprocal situation equally possible; that the rose adapted its pollination sequence to the bee in order to better disseminate its seed. Michael Pollan, a contributing writer for the New York Times, among other venues, argues for the latter in his national bestseller, The Botany of Desire. Pollan investigates the nature of the co-evolutionary relationship between humans and plants, making the paradoxical argument that domesticated vegetation evolved to meet our desires. Pollan explores four different human desires, featuring one specific plant as an example of each. He claims that the apple panders to the human desire for sweetness, that the tulip satisfies the desire for beauty, that the potato fulfills our desire for control, and that marijuana indulges our desire for intoxication.
Although Pollan investigates each of these relationships, he seems most concerned with the human desire for intoxication and its consequent fulfillment by the cannabis plant family. Pollan speaks in great depth about the matter in a speech delivered at the Avenil lecture series at UC Berkeley in 2007, entitled “Cannabis, Forgetting, and the Botany of Desire.” Here, he argues that the marijuana plant evolved to gratify the human longing for intoxication, and that this represents an important co-evolutionary event between man and plant. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the active compound in marijuana that induces its psychoactive effects of euphoria and repose. Pollan notes that the production of the THC molecule is very energetically-requisite, but that many other plants demonstrate similar morphological traits. For example, a plant’s production of exotic colors and smells effectively compensate for its lack of mobility. In an example of vegetative ingenuity, Pollan describes the surprising counteraction of lima beans to the herbivory of the two-spotted spider mite. As the spider-mite begins to feast on the lima bean, the bean plant itself releases a volatile chemical whose scent attracts predatory insects that in turn feed on the spider-mites. For this reason, Pollan affectionately refers to plants as “nature’s alchemists.” Pollan notes that “Cannabis works on our minds in order to borrow our legs,” additionally arguing that plants are as advanced as humans, or even more so, if judged by the benchmark of organic chemistry. Pollan proposes further evidence, citing that the genome of a roundworm has 20,000 genes, while the genome of a human contains 35,000 genes, yet the genome of simple rice contains 50,000.
Returning to the theme of intoxication, Pollan explores plants that generate chemicals to “alter the texture of human consciousness.” Nearly all cultures have exploited this aspect of plants, with coffee, nicotine, and tea offered as some of the more conventional examples. Pollan references the cognitive scientist Steven Pinker for an evolutionary explanation of the production of such complex and energy-intensive compounds. To explain such large allocation of nutrients and energy for the production of these seemingly worthless biochemical compounds, one must consider the established relationship between man and plant. Pollan insinuates that in exchange for their agricultural propagation, plants exploited certain adaptive traits important to the human species. One such trait is reward-seeking, in which the brain induces a biochemical response that engenders the feeling of motivational gratification for achieving some goal or completing some task. In essence, these plants are tapping into the human biochemical reward system.
Pollan goes on to explain that humans came to realize the mind-altering potential of plants through observation of animals. He relates this supposition to the Arabian mythos that explains how humankind came to drink coffee. According to legend, goat herdsmen supposedly noticed that whenever their drove partook in the red berries hanging from a particular bush, they became unusually energetic. Observation led to action, and an entire culture progressively developed around the concept of consuming the derivatives of this plant. Reasons for the development of this coffee culture originate from the utility of caffeine as a survival tool. Ancient man potentially conferred a significant advantage from its consumption, with specific examples including heightened mental awareness that might have endowed powers of endurance before the hunt. Yet, in the same manner in which such drugs create “doors of perception”, they also serve to inhibit normal bodily function, thereby diminishing an individual’s likelihood of survival. That the ancient Greeks had only one word that was used for both medicine and poison, betrays the long-understood dichotomous nature of such drugs. In this regard, Pollan actually argues for the benefit of more degenerative drugs, including alcohol or marijuana. Such drugs, he argues, could also have benefited human societies by promoting social relaxation and relief from existential malaise.

After its potential came to be understood, domestication of the marijuana plant itself followed two different pathways, one as psychoactive drug (cannabis indica Lam.), and the other as hemp (cannabis sativa L.). At present, following 1500 years of domestication, the two subspecies of the same genus have become so distinct that appreciable amounts of THC are no longer produced in cultivated hemp. Effectively, wild marijuana no longer exists. In terms of the psychoactive forms of marijuana, there was domestic selection for strains with greater potency in their effects as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, or anti-anxiety. Continued development led the artificially-selected species to become progressively more psychoactive. Allyn Howlett, a researcher at St. Louis University, remarked that marijuana and THC represent “everything that Adam and Eve would want after leaving the Garden of Eden.” In other words, cannabis allows mankind to deal with the potentially great suffering that is the human condition.

Following from this, one is compelled to conjecture about the reasons a plant would come to generate this highly-complex molecule in the first place. The THC molecule confers special defense mechanisms to the plant, including protection against both predatory insects and ultra-violet radiation. However, Pollan also explores a more subtle reasoning for the production of this molecule, which is that it is more beneficial not to flat out kill one’s enemies, because then their population will selectively develop a resistance against that particular toxin. Instead, it is of greater benefit to have one’s predators forget. Thus, it is the altered mental state induced by the consumption of marijuana that may have been the plant’s initial wildcard. In yet another cultural mythos, Pollan explains that humans supposedly first became interested in cannabis upon observing that pigeons in central Asia become disoriented after the consumption of this substance, and that it is purely accidental that THC is also psychoactive in the human brain.
Inverting conventional logic, Pollan posits that forgetting is not a defect of mental operation, but rather an important component thereof. Neurologically, THC acts on the cannabinoid system of the brain, mimicking anandamide (arachidonoylethanolamide), which functions to erase memories from the brain. Such cannabinoids allow humans to forget moments of strife and pain. It must also be noted that forgetting is not counter to learning. Referencing the American psychologist and philosopher, William James, “not losing memories precludes the selective memorization of facts.”
In sum, Pollan investigates the possibility that plants manipulate their consumers through inducing intoxication in a co-evolutionary escapade, in which alteration of consciousness is exchanged for domestication. Complex psychoactive molecules such as THC were initially produced as chemical defenses to ward off herbivorous predators. Nevertheless, by happenstance, they also maintained a bio-neurological effect on the brains of animals as well. These effects were then observed by humans tending to livestock and consequently became indoctrinated into human society. Although marijuana-use impedes normal mental function, summoning a negative light from the survivalist viewpoint, it also serves to enhance other, potentially beneficial, bodily functions. TCH mimics a biochemical compound active in the cannabinoid system, which initiates the dissolution of memories, a function important to the memorization process. It also promotes relaxation important to the amelioration of social tensions. As a result, humans have embraced this uncanny plant and sparked its proliferation across the globe. Bold and original, Pollan’s book compels us to question who selected who in the evolutionary madness. Hence, The Botany of Desire attempts to inspire awe at the sheer complexity and ingenuity of the plant world.