People have used wild lettuce as a sedative and painkiller for millennia. This plant is similar to thistle and dandelion, but it has potent properties which can replace synthetic painkillers.
Namely, it has been used as an opium replacement since the 19th century, when it was known as “poor man’s opium.”
Even nowadays, the distilled water from this plant is used as a mild sedative in France. Also, the Hopi Indians smoked its sap to induce a mild euphoric dream state.
The plant has a resinous milky sap, which contains pain-relieving opiates, known as lactucarium. These opiates are collected and dried, and their main compounds include lactupicrin, lactucin and lactucopicrin.
All of these have potent analgesic properties and lead to the same of even more intense effects the ones of ibuprofen in mice. Studies have shown that lactucin and lactucopicrin have sedative activity in measurements of spontaneous movements of the mice.
Iranian researchers have found that opium lettuce was a popular painkiller and sedative before the Victorian period.
In the paper of the Institute for the History of Science, published under the title Lettuce, Lactuca sp. as a Medicinal Plant in Polish Publications of the 19th Century, it is written that:
“The action of the substance was weaker than that of opium but free of the side-effects, and medical practice showed that in some cases lactucarium produced better curative effects than opium”.
The wild lettuce is also beneficial in the case of a cough, and it also soothes the symptoms of a whooping cough (pertussis).
Here are some other health benefits of this plant:
Anxiety:
Wild Lettuce has a mild sedative effect which makes it great for anxiety.
Sleep and Insomnia:
Wild Lettuce has long been used to treat insomnia.
To relieve Pain and Tension:
Wild Lettuce is also called opium lettuce because of its opiate like effect. Not only does it reduce pain, it has been known to cause a mild opiate like high. This quality makes it very useful in relieving pain.
For Migraine / Headaches:
Wild Lettuce is believed to reduce the frequency and severity of migraine headaches.
For Asthma
Wild Lettuce was originally used as a treatment for asthma. Even now, many people claim that their use of the herb is responsible for fewer and less severe asthma related problems.
As a mild Euphoric
One of the most prominent reasons people choose Wild Lettuce is for the opiate like effect. Wild Lettuce causes a feeling of mild euphoria very similar to opiates, though it contains no actual opiates. Not only is this completely legal, it provides an affect similar to opiates without altering the results of a drug test.
This plant has not only been used as a remedy, as people have also used its opiate-like effects to achieve a slight euphoria. Yet, it does not contain real opiates, so it is legal for use and does not changes the drug test results.
Yet, if used in large doses, it can lead to dizziness, nausea, vomiting, and anxiety.
This is how to use it:
- Cut the plant to get the thick milky sap.
- Prepare a tincture by adding the sap in some alcohol. You can also add flowering tops and fresh leaves instead of the sap.
- prepare tea by drying it. You can infuse about 1.5 grams of opium lettuce sap. The tea has a sweet flavor.
- You can smoke 0.25 grams of it in a pipe, and higher doses might lead to adverse effects.
