Kola is a "food-drug", a substance considered neither food nor medicine, but - like coffee, tea, coca and tobacco - is used to induce "flights of fancy". It is incorporated into rites of passage, and ceremonies to cement treaties and contracts; its medicinal properties were first recognised outside Africa in the twelfth century; and it is a legal and popular stimulant among West African Muslims.BR> North America: Ohio U Press; Ghana: Woeli Publishing Services