Learning Herbs: The “First Herb”
For those who view herbal healing/medicine from the outside, it seems like an esoteric pursuit, with endless amounts of information, organized in in an incomprehensible manner. There is some truth to this. Learning about herbs and their application in the field of healing is a life time endeavor. But one must begin somewhere… My own origin story is similar to many others. In the 1970s, the wave of cultural change that had begun in the 1960s was washing over the North American population, and indeed having implications throughout the world. I was simply one of a generation that had been exposed to recreational marijuana use and the attendant countercultural ideas that came with getting high. Most people who smoked then, whether they do so now or not, can tell you that there are 28 grams in an ounce. They also know the Latin name for marijuana is Cannabis sativa, and that the chemical constituent in marijuana that gets you stoned is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Familiarity with latin binomials, understanding weights and measures, and knowing about the chemical constituents of plants is part of the knowledge base of an herbalist. In a sense this was an introduction to plant medicine. So marijuana was my first herb and I like many others considered it a “natural” product.
There were/are always people who aren’t hip who smoke pot and do drugs. It seems to me that there was more access to alternative cultural thinking in the 70s than after that era. As an example, the movie Woodstock featured robed gurus and people practicing yoga, in addition to those listening to music and getting stoned. Marijuana was a gateway herb for many people looking for a different way to live, those who couldn’t accept that all the worldly things they had been offered was all there was to life. Some of the ideas that came along with knowledge of the “first herb” seemed to offer the promise that we could live in in harmony with others and find purpose in life. Oh yeah, and live in harmony with nature. The fact that these ideas still permeate our collective consciousness tells me that that they are not mere naivety, but something we are still reaching towards collectivelly.
In retrospect, marijuana is like any other herb or “botanical medicine,” in that it has certain properties, has certain rules for use, and affects the body (and mind) in certain ways. I’m not sure the cultivation of this plant to dramatically increase the THC content, creating strains of “super pot,” allows it to be considered harmless, or merely “natural.” Like other herbs with strong actions, such as cathartics or poisons, it belongs in a special category that requires knowledge and forebearence for accurate usage.
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