How Would You Define The Difference Between Drug & Medicinal Herb?

  On 8/18/2013 at 9:10 AM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

How powerful is it? Can it be patented? Can we make it seem dangerous and taboo, and then synthesize it ourselves and profit from it?

  On 8/18/2013 at 7:35 AM, Candiru said:

It becomes a drug when it's a threat to other industries

recently, i've become fascinated by the lesser known nutritional and medicinal (sometimes slightly mind altering) effects of plants around the world. for example cabbage can be a stimulant if you eat (relatively) large amounts raw and on its own. it will literally heat your insides up and stimulate your whole body, giving you a warm fuzzy feeling for quite a good amount of time. high magnesium foods can work as sedatives. khat is a very nutritious stimulant, much like coca, used around the world and also banned in many parts of the world. moringa is a tree leaf which has metamorphic nutritional potential for people around the world. it is a subtle stimulant and carries 100's of times the daily allowance of b12 in 1 tablespoon. moringa has countless other, mind bending, positive effects on the human body and is being used as a cheap, effective way to feed impoverished people in many areas in african as well as other countries and is destined for even higher exposure. many of the companies who supply moringa leaf powder can not keep up with the demand. miracle fruit was banned in the usa because it threatened the sugarcane industry to such an extreme degree that the scientist who synthesized the easy to use powder from the fruit and began distributing it, received death threats and was chased and harassed on numerous occasions. the powder from the fruit is as satisfying as sugar in every way and has no negative effects on blood sugar or dental health whatsoever. it is nutritious and delicious. there are countless other examples of this type of potential in plants and this type of behavior by humans to try and control and eliminate access to plants that could literally change the world.

so i thought i'd challenge watmm to find more of these plant substances and also to share their views on the subject.