On Herbs, Pharmaceuticals, and Chris Rock

Fuser and I YouTubed Chris Rock last night and watched some of his stand up. We don't have T.V. so the computer is a nice alternative for the occasional veg session.

Chris Rock does a stick on drugs and in his humerus way says that drugs are illegal because the government wants us to buy their drugs, not the street drugs. Try watching T.V., he says, without being bombarded with all kind of drugs as they list symptoms until they finally hit on one you have. "Do you go to sleep at night...and wake up in the morning?" etc... If the government wasn't in bed with companies such as Merck we'd have Weedbucks instead of Starbucks.

So the other day I was hiking in the mountains behind our house. This time of year there is something growing that smells remarkably like curry. I have seen a curry plant and it is not that, it is something else I haven't discovered yet. I was awed by all the natural remedies surrounding me. I'm in my third quarter of herbology at school and I'm constantly intrigued by the medicinal properties of plants I have growing in my own yard. Have problems with arthritis? The root of clematis is used for that. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Star Jasmine stems can be used to help remedy the pain. Internal bleeding? Artemesia.

I was overwhelmed on my hike at how we've neglected the natural remedies that the almighty creator put on this earth. This is not to say that herbs are innocent and non toxic, quite the contrary, they need to be respected and used properly. But why use something expensive and synthetic when there is a cheaper, natural alternative?