Andrew Z Gardner – illustratör

From Roman emperors to the most famous Queen of Egypt, from Mary Shelley to Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens to Pablo Picasso, so much of art and history were inspired by the one and only plant that nature saw fit to deliver us from pain, both physical, mental, and spiritual. It gave us our very first medicine, our first extracted alkaloid, and our first controlled substance. Man''s quest to improve nature gave us our first unstoppable addiction.

The book that could end the opioid epidemic, For the Love of Opium, begins with a historical account of Opium use in polite society prior to its criminalization. Author W. E. Simmons examines its influence on history, art, and literature, including how it inspired the most famous monsters of the horror genre. We learn what Opium is, the alkaloids that produce its effects, and how they work together and independently. We also learn why science has failed to make a safer and less addictive version of nature''s strongest medicine and how one can make one''s own safer pain medication. Pharmaceutical-grade opiates cause the opioid epidemic. Opium: Nature''s Most Powerful Medicine, is an herbal option to end the suffering and addiction of man-made opiates.