Disclaimer. I am not a licensed health practitioner. This is just another post on an item you might wish to have available if needed so that a physician can treat you and your family as best as possible when there are no conventional alternatives. No medication, including those available over the counter, should be taken without consulting a physician. Information shared here is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not medical advice nor a substitute for licensed medical care. A qualified, licensed physician or other medical provider should be consulted before beginning any herbal or conventional treatment.
NOTE: Jimsonweed must never be used internally!
Last summer as Becky and I overhauled the plain vanilla landscaping in the backyard (grass and a bunch of daffodils) into a stealth vegetable garden by means of edible landscaping, we both noticed a weed we had never seen anywhere before. Being an agronomy major and interested in all things plant and soil related, she whipped out her phone with its handy plant ID app.
Jimsonweed.
I remembered having read about it as a child (I read a lot back then), something about it being poisonous to cattle and having bad effects on people as well.
When Becky, Aaron, and I took an off-grid medicine class, one of the instructors, Sam Coffman, talked a bit about Datura. It seemed he was using it recreationally. Maybe he was just joking about it. I don’t know. I do know that he doesn’t address that herb in his book, The Herbal Medic.
Despite efforts to take it out last year, it returned again this season. And again, it seems very odd to me since we’ve never seen it growing around here, or anywhere we’ve ever lived.
And I got to wondering if it had any legitimate medicinal uses. This time, internet research led to me Michael Moore (the herbalist, not the filmmaker). Naturally, I’d heard of him—he’s got a considerable reputation in the field of herbal medicine. But somehow, I’d never thought to see if he’d written any books, and that latest bit of research revealed that indeed, he had.
Even better, his book was perfect for me: Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West. And it covered some unusual plants, including Jimsonweed.
Everything I read about Jimsonweed online gave me the creepy-crawlies. Peppered in all the recommendations against employing it in any form were first- and third-person reports of those who had accidentally or purposefully ingested the plant. Even the regular drug-abusers never wanted a repeat of the awful hallucinations they experienced for days. It was just about enough to put me off the weed permanently.
But then Michael Moore’s book arrived, and I had to see what his thoughts on Jimsonweed were.
Most of the conditions that Jimsonweed is used to treat can be managed with other herbs that are safer to use and easier to locate. It’s not one that I would pursue gathering, except that it is an excellent treatment for asthma. Here’s what he had to say about it:
The effect of inhaling a puff or two of Jimsonweed is a temporary numbing of bronchial enervation, which relaxes the muscles; the smoke also dries up the hypersecretions of the membranes. Why this method is no longer used is beyond my understanding. Frequent use decreases its effect, but the same is true of epinephrine and isoproterenol and related adrenergics, the drugs used in asthma inhalers. Since the function of Jimsonweed is almost completely local, there is no need to inhale enough to get into the bloodstream; the other drugs all have strong systemic effects and can cause a rebound in some individuals, as well as a whole host of adverse reactions.[1]
HARVEST
Collect the leaves and flowers.[2] (They bloomed in late July through early August here.)
PREPARATIONS
- Infusion. Add a handful of the fresh or dried leaves to a large pot of boiling water. For external use in a bath only.[3]
- Liniment. 1 cup of chopped leaves plus 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper in 1 quart of rubbing alcohol. Let steep 1 week, shaking daily.[4]
- Poultice. Use the fresh plant as it is strongest and apply to painful joints.[5]
- Powder. Grind the dry leaves and flowers into a fine powder.[6]
- Salve. Heat 1 part of the plant (no further measurement is indicated) in Vaseline, lard, or lanolin (hydrous) over low temperature for 1 hour.[7] Alternatively, grind seeds to a powder and mix with tallow.[8] Let cool before use.
- Smoke. Sprinkle the dry powder onto the flame of a cigarette lighter several times and inhale.[9]
MODERN USAGE
- Dermatological
- Musculoskeletal
- Muscle aches (infusion/bath, liniment)[13]
- Painful joints (infusion/bath, liniment, poultice)[14]
- Neuralgia (poultice)[15]
- Respiratory
Because Jimsonweed can be deadly when abused or misused, I considered avoiding mention of it here. However, it is an easily identified weed without lookalikes. It shouldn’t be confused with another plant. Most importantly, it has been successfully used for centuries to treat asthma. (For those who question--and I don't blame you one bit--the New England Journal of Medicine published an article on asthma which addressed, among other things, treatment in the 1800s with Datura.*)Whether it will be effective for patients with severe asthma is not reported. Jimsonweed is one of the few herbs with a proven track record for managing what can be a deadly disease when the conventional pharmaceuticals are no longer available.
CAUTION: Jimsonweed is considered violently toxic. It should NEVER be used internally. It can be deadly.
CONTRAINDICATIONS: None, when used externally. Elderly individuals and those with limited mobility should be supervised when using Jimsonweed in a bath. The alkaloids may be absorbed in sufficient quantity to cause drowsiness.
[1] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[2] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[3] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[4] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[5] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[6] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[7] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[8] Steven Foster, et al., Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 2002, 52.
[9] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[10] Steven Foster, et al., Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 2002, 52.
[11] Steven Foster, et al., Western Medicinal Plants and Herbs, 2002, 52.
[12] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[13] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[14] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[15] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[16] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
[17] Michael Moore, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, 2003, 142-43.
