In this update of the 2001 edition, Ebadi (pharmacology and clinical neuroscience, U. of North Dakota, Grand Forks) notes reasons for the "green" revolution in the popularity of herbal medicine in the U.S. While agreeing that the Food and Drug Administration is right in not equating "natural" with safe, he lists conditions for which marijuana appears efficacious despite lack of FDA approval. Defining pharmaodynamics as "the study of the actions and effects of drugs on organ, cellular, and subcellular levels," he details mechanisms accounting for the therapeutic effects of botanicals, herb-drug and drug-drug interactions, scientific evaluations of natural products, herbs (sans illustrations) from Agnus castus to Yucca, their use in specific conditions, and other alternative modalities. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)