В Миннесоте обсуждают пользу сорняков и историю с токсичным «лекарством» Майка Линделла

Many Minnesotans with lawns have been going out this growing season with handheld spray guns loaded with herbicides to spray weeds like broadleaf plants, dandelions, creeping Charlie, and white clover. Meanwhile, farmers growing corn and soybeans use herbicides to control common weeds like giant ragweed and giant foxtail. The best-known weed, of course, is botanically a reed and used for medicines and recreation — in other words, for getting high. OK, I smoked some “weed” at college, but, like Bill Clinton — the former president and a classmate of mine at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service — I didn’t inhale. ADVERTISEMENT The herbicide known as Roundup is the subject of many lawsuits, as it is reported to be a carcinogen and is still much in use. It was first developed by Monsanto and now is owned by Bayer (yes, the aspirin-makers). Its marketing and apparent lobbying strategy says it contains glyphosate, which is essential for crop growth and food production. Farmers, for the most part, agree, and ads push slogans like, “control weeds, not farming.” Tons of studies are underway with Ph.D. dissertations with titles like this one at South Dakota State University: “ Weed Detection Using Lightweight Deep Learning Models with Transfer Learning and Hyperparameter Optimization .” Throughout history, weeds have been useful to humans for medical purposes. Essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson put it this way: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered.” One weed whose virtues have been discovered is itch weed, which many of us have discovered by stumbling through bushes — and then felt. Botanically called veratrum viride, a lot of it was gathered alongside roads in Manitoba and Ontario. How do I know this? This was some of the stuff I worked on at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. A major extractor of itch weed called me and explained the problem. They sold the extract of itch weed to a big drug firm that used it as an element in making heart-stimulant drugs. But the Canadian provinces started mowing down all the itch weed, and a new supply source was needed. I was asked if I knew anyone who could grow itch weed. I provided 10 names, but the project never got out of the ground (pun intended). For those of you who don’t question Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Lindell’s credibility — you may know him also as the “My Pillow guy” — consider that during the height of COVID-19 he spent $10 million to buy oleandrin, a highly toxic glycoside touted as a treatment for the coronavirus. According to reports, its approval was being sought from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration with help from President Donald Trump, and a large amount of it sat in a warehouse waiting — until it expired. Furthermore, state law prohibits noxious plants from being grown or transported in Minnesota, including giant hogweed, Grecian foxglove, hooked-hair hops, and humulus japonicus. But many backyard weeds are highly beneficial, with some even being known to be nutrient-dense and packed with traditional healing properties. Do pull and utilize the potency of dandelions, the common chickweed, stinging nettles, purple nettles, and more. In the old days, gardeners, not pharmacists, were sought out by those with aches and pains; and, yes, scammers tried selling bad stuff, the modern version of the traveling salesman hawking snake-oil cure-alls. ADVERTISEMENT So, I won’t be surprised at all if someday, while I’m walking down a dark alley, someone calls out, “Hey, mister, wanna buy some weed?” John Freivalds of Orono, Minnesota, is a commodities broker, the author of six books, the retired honorary consul of Latvia in Minnesota, and a regular contributor to the News Tribune Opinion page. His website is jfamarkets.com.