Animals on drugs. We are not unique. Michael Pollan ""Botany of Desire"

shows how cats use catnip. I know cows love cannabis, antelope loved eating tobacco, and would go crazy over menthol cigarettes. We all know of Koalas and eucalyptus. Hogs love fermented slop. Humans are not unique.

Now new scientist lists some animals and drugs, starting with the Wallabies and an unfortunate elephant.


http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17373-animals-on-drugs-11-unlikely-highs.html

Animals take to drugs just as readily as we do. Sometimes they avail themselves of natural highs, and sometimes lab animals get very fond of substances they are fed for research. So, sit back with your stimulant of choice and enjoy New Scientist's round-up of animals on drugs.

1. Wallabies on opium

The marsupials of Tasmania have found a means of passing the time on Australia's island state that could also explain mysterious local crop circles. Wallabies have been munching the poppies grown for opium by the pharmaceutical industry.

"We have a problem with wallabies entering poppy fields, getting as high as a kite and going around in circles," the attorney general was quoted in The Mercury newspaper.

Sheep and deer have also been reported as being raving opium fiends.

From the article:

6. Mice on speed
Mice given huge doses of methamphetamine have shown that drug cravings persist for months after withdrawal from the drug. The rodents were spiked with doses of speed equivalent to those taken by addicts on a binge. Researchers found long-lasting changes in key communication pathways in the brain. Brain changes in the mice lasted for more than four months, equivalent to years in humans.

7. Monkeys on marijuana
One study suggested that monkeys "seek out" injections of THC – the active ingredient in cannabis – although this was criticised as "pseudoscience", admittedly by pro-marijuana groups.


At least the mice on speed have a chance of outrunning the cats on catnip trying to catch them :crazy:

I have another one: mosquitoes on Ritalin. 20 years ago, when I was first prescribed Ritalin, I saw an immediate change in the behavior of the mosquitoes after they bit me. They were flying around fast and aimlessly--high as a kite--then shortly, they'd drop dead! I may have been bitten alive, but at least I helped keep the mosquito population under control.

in our brains?