The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan Essay

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan is an interesting perspective of how humans over the centuries have filled certain desires through the use of plants. The apple represents the desire for sweetness, the tulip for beauty, marijuana for intoxication, and the potato for control. Pollan discusses the point and importance of these four plants and their development throughout history. Chapter 1: Desire: Sweetness/ Plant: The Apple This chapter goes into depth talking about the spread of the apple in the United States, and all over the world.

In the novel, The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan tells the intriguing story of how plants are domesticated from the perspective of the plant with regards to four specific plants.. The four plants he chose for discussion are the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato. As he discusses the domestication of these plants, his overall focus is the desire that each of these plants have to us as humans. Pollan has written books and magazine articles among other pieces of literature that discuss the relationship between plants and humans. Throughout this informational text, Pollan tries to keep the perspective from the “plant’s-eye view of the world,” but he often slips into Pollan’s eye view of the world. As he talks about experiences that he has had with each of these plants and gives a little bit of their history, it was often hard to stay focused on the topic that he was trying to convey. However, I found that the perspectives that Pollan brings up are interesting to think about. The Botany of Desire was an interesting journal type informational novel that didn’t quite live up to my expectations of what it could have been.

The role of how marijuana is used in the United States is being reexamined, rethought, and recalibrated, Barcott emphasize throughout his book. The new adjustment in America's relationship with cannabis cannot be measured in just monetary or social terms, “there are more profound movements going ahead here; social realignments, social alterations, and budgetary modifications” Barcott believes. Barcott show marijuana came to be one of the most vilified drugs in the market ever since the war on drugs was announced in the 1980s. However, the author shows how those who were against that movement are now cheerful that the way of that line of thinking is finally coming to a close. “Weed the

The legalization of marijuana will lead to a boost to the economy. With the United States being trillions in debt, an increase in tax money would be a big help to lower the national debt. Colorado, one of the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational and medicinal uses, is showing valuable data of an increase in tax money, “In 2015, Colorado collected more than $135 million in taxes and fees on medicinal and recreational marijuana. Sales totaled over $996 million” (Krishna, Mrinalini). Now, Colorado is joined by seven other states, Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada, in the full legalization of marijuana. With these states joining with Colorado, the United States is seeing sales “[grow] by 30%, to 6.1 billion, in 2016 and a projected 20.1 billion in 2021” (Krishna, Mrinalini). With that in mind, these sales are shared among only eight states, add another forty-two states and the rates could surpass the trillions. Considering the evidence, the act of not legalizing marijuana would be foolish.

This solution is not only medically sound, but it is also financially beneficial to the American population and federal government. Since 2015, marijuana has become the fastest growing industry in the U.S. (“Office of National” 7). If marijuana becomes legal in all fifty states, the industry will become larger than the organic food market (“Office of National” 6). Therefore, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes will not only create a thriving agricultural industry, but it will also bring in revenue for the fiscal budget rather than drain it. In 1996, California became the first U.S. state to legally allow medical marijuana for patients with a valid doctor’s recommendation, and the

According to the department of California law, “Medicinal and adult-use cannabis regulation and safety Act regulate, control, cultivation, transport, storage, manufacturing and sale of medicinal and adult usage” (California Legislative Information). Marijuana has been pass yet not many people would benefit from it, and in order for the benefits to reach the city of Farmersville; The City had to implement Cannabis Tax for businesses, this business are going to operate on the outskirts of the city and which revenues is going toward the City general foundlings.

Officials with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration say that the number of indoor marijuana plants in California has quadrupled in the last three years. Many of these plants have occurred in middle-class and upper-class suburbs. Buyers have bought homes here because the financing of these homes are cheap. They have been remodeled to build farms which are built indoors. These indoor pot operation uses sophisticated irrigation, ventilation and lighting. This structure can contain 1,800 plants. This marijuana boom has brought in more than $100 million worth of pot last year. These homes were transformed into illicit greenhouses with blacked-out windows, sophisticated irrigation, high powered and timed lighting and ventilation devices to

The scientific name Cannabis has often been referred to both hemp and marijuana. Although they were originally the same plant, they have now become more like distant cousins. The designation of marijuana is a THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) level between 5-10%. This produces the side effects that are commonly associated with marijuana. In industrial hemp, the levels of THC are so low that they are virtually nonexistent. The range of THC in industrial hemp is between .3% - 1.5%. Some producers have claimed to have completely eliminated the amount of THC that is found in

In the book, Botany of desire, chapter 2, Michael Pollan describes the relationship between humans and tulips in 17th century. At the beginning of the chapter, Michael introduces the tulips and then, he start talking about the big event happened in Dutch. It is the most typical case of bubble economy, and it made a lot of impact.

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollen uses examples of four plants including the apple ,tulip, marijuana, and the potato, to describe evolution and how mankind works to help plants reproduce. We are a slave to things of sweetness, beauty, intoxication, and control. These four things are described by the different plant chapters in the book. We as people are driven to these kind of things because of the product we get, we subconsciously are working to make these plants more fit and therefore helping in their reproduction and evolution. With each plant chapter Pollen goes into depth about its contribution to the world and history behind the plant within human evolution. By using the examples he provides in the book helps demonstrate the ideas of how these plants contribute to the human body systems, evolution and ecology. To further explain these topics I chose to explore the apple, tulip and cannabis plants.

This article is about many people that want to make profit from selling marijuana, and the challenges that it brings in the California markets. For all these people that cultivate and sale this drug will be hard for them to make a profit in the California market because of the state's legendary regulation and the enormous black market. California will be another state in the united states that will be legal to sale marijuana to adult 21 and over starting, on January one, but before all this happen the states of California will have to prove some rules. In my opinion not matter how good the regulation is it will be impossible to stop people of misusing this drug. There will be many young people walking into a wrong path because many young people

At this point, the legalization of marijuana, especially that which occurs in California, is a topic of extreme importance now. A change of perspective on the legendary War on Drugs can come as a result of the successful implementation a regulated marijuana market in California seeing as though the state has the highest GDP (n.a., n.d.) and thus, it is the state with the biggest economy in the country. By correctly implementing a regulatory body and system in said state, a precedent can be formed, leading to the consequent legalization of marijuana in the rest of the

Marijuana has become a widely discussed topic within our society today. History has shown marijuana was and currently still looked down upon by society; yet there has been serious thought about the legalization oqf marijuana today. In 1545, marijuana was brought to American by the Spanish although it was not introduced until 1611 (Narconcon, 2010). During this period marijuana become a major commercial crop as was tobacco; marijuana was seen as a source of fiber to the settlers of Jamestown. Although, by 1890 marijuana had been replaced as a major cash crop by the production and distribution of cotton; marijuana was also used in medicines during 1890. (Narconcon, 2010). However it was only in a small percentage of medicines used during that time.

The United States has been involved in a failing battle versus marijuana since the execution of the Uniform Narcotic Act in the 1930's. Americans are not only squandering almost eight billion a year, Americans are losing probable income. Americans could be in a position to gain a profit of a significant amount of revenues if marijuana were to be legal and structured by the Department of Agriculture (Norml, 2014). Revenue from the tax system of marijuana purchases would extend from about two and a half billion for each year if marijuana were taxed like conventional inventory products to six billion if it were taxed like tobacco or alcohol.

Cannabis has been arguably an epitome of controversy for several decades in regards to its psychoactive yet therapeutic benefits. Particularly, the use of cannabis has become socially widespread and encompasses the notion of a renewable resource with a variety of functions (Atakan, 2012). However, political and societal indifferences have led to the central dogma associated with cannabis such as there’s no medicinal, economical, industrial, or even scientific benefits. Interestingly enough, fixed anti-marijuana ideologies were formed during the prohibition era amongst the cultivation of hemp (a variety of cannabis) which still resonates in modern society today. Conversely, cannabis and hemp play a crucial role in the development and manufacturing