Heres a look at Datura stramonium. I harvest the leaf for topical ointments.
Datura is not a plant to take lightly, and is heavily misunderstood as a medicinal plant. Meanwhile the opiate epidemic is running rampant, and this plant is an amazing topical pain remedy.
Maybe if people have some botanical potentials for understanding how to alleviate their pain, without using fear based propaganda against plants, we could have some alternative options to addictive pharmaceutical opiates.
Scopolamine and atropine are the main “active constituent alkaloids” in many plants of the nightshade family, namely datura, Brugmansia, and belladonna, henbane, they are medicinal in low doses, and very toxic in high doses and synthetic concentrates can be deadly.
Some people try to “trip” or get high on datura, but are usually traumatized and disappointed. There are mainly 3 datura species; D. Stramonium, D. innoxia and D. metel. It is really not hallucinogenic and is actually more commonly classified as a deleriant. Is very off putting, disorienting, and very hard to make meaning from, and it can also be very dangerous because one can easily convince themselves that their delusions are true.
Datura and other brugmansia species (related) also contain tropanes as do most if not all solanaceous plants. And even In our drug phobic culture we don’t even bother to make them illegal because it’s generally felt that these were more like poisoning than tripping.
Yet, despite our modern day fear, misuse, and the failed “war on drugs” whole civilizations have built themselves around this kind of experience such as with Southern California tribes; the Catalina and louisenyo, and the Chumash to name a few. The Tolache religion of Mexico is also based around Jimson weed.
Plant love,
Dan De Lion
Also, check out my video on datura as a topical medicinal below:
