To what is stated on this site about medicinal uses could be added that of (VERY MODERATE) smoking. I pursued an interest in learning about numerous herbs available at health food stores from this perspective, using an anti-overdose mini-toke utensil which I have been interested in introducing as an alternative to the pernicious 700-mg. hot-burning-overdose nicotine cigaret and other common smoking procedures, all overdose-oriented, probably for the sake of tobacco industry profits. The utensil has a quarter-inch (6 mm.) i.d. screened crater permitting 25-mg. servings at minimum temperature provided you (user) suck slowly enough. The herb must first be sifted through 1/16" wire mesh screen to achieve a particle size which burns smooth and slow in such a utensil. I found that Larrea mexicana, or an herb so advertised on the package, had a very rich, distinctive (though slightly scary) flavor and even, more than most I tried, left a specific feeling in the chest which I judged to indicate potential toxicity if I had overdosed on it, which of course the utensil expressly prevents. The degree to which the taste was intriguing and interesting indicated that its use in moderate quantities was or could be positive for the mental function, as often advocated in the case of such an herb as cannabis. This raises the issue of addressing the number one public health issue of our time, the profit-driven marketing of death to over 5 million victims a year world-wide (WHO est.) by the tobacco industry, primarily I think in the form of the deliberately designed overdose known as a cigaret, when a utensil as described above, offering 25-mg. single servings, makes a wide range of interesting herbs available at minimal or zero health risk to smokers, both those who wish to reduce and those who wish to eliminate their tobacco habit. An additional issue relating to Larrea is the claim, publicized a few years ago, that an individual "creosote bush" had been found, I think in Arizona, which is alleged to be 11,600 years old, or the oldest living organism on the planet. (What substances would an organism of such age, exposed to airborne news of a billion volcanoes, have learned how to synthesize in the meantime?) I haven't found any additional information about this yet, but perhaps your organization can provide same to my email address.

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