Ethnobotanicals Osha (Bear Root)

[Frog Dreams]

I smoked a big pipe of osha before a bufo ceremony and I was amazed by how much I liked it. I was on LSD at the time and I did a bufo ceremony the day before, so I was pretty deep in non-dual, but I found it to be super relaxing...

It was the first time in years I've inhaled smoke into my lungs. (I typically fundamentally object to that route of administration.)

Now, I want to get a big pipe and smoke it fairly regularly.

It's weird to me that it is legal.
I think I prefer it to weed.

Anybody else had much experience smoking this root (or drinking it in tea)?

Apparently it contains oxytocin (the "love hormone").

 

[negrogesic]

Not sure what's in it but oxytocin is only produced by animals (not plants), so that can't be it.

 

[blazR]

More chemical work has been conducted on the Asian members of the genus than
American species. Several different classes of compounds have been isolated from
Ligusticum: alkaloids (such as perlolyrine, tetramethylpyrazine, and others); an
anthraquinone (chrysophanol); phenolic compounds (such as ferulic acid and caffeic
acid); phenylpropanoids; phthalides (such as butylidenephthalide, ligustilide, 4-hydroxy-
3-butylphthalide, senkyunolide and others); coumarins and furanocoumarins; and
terpenoids (such as α-pinene, β-pinene, and limonene) (Huang & Pu 1990, Shibano et al.
2005, Sinclair 1998, van Wyk & Wink 2004, Yan et al. 2005)

From this PDF; https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator.org/assets/generalFiles/Osha-Ligusticum.draft.pdf

 

[negrogesic]

Interestingly, the sites selling it advertise it as containing oxytocin, which is false. There are many but for example:

 

[negrogesic]

*doesn't mean it is inactive per say, but oxytocin isn't the explanation (nor would it survive combustion)

 

[Frog Dreams]

Thanks @negrogesic.

There are a LOT of websites that say it has oxytocin and people in the medicine community believe it has oxytocin.

Obviously a common misconception.

The effects (for me) were more along the lines of a muscle relaxant. It felt like the smoke went straight to the areas that I hold tension and very effectively released those muscles. I was doing breathwork while smoking, though, so it's hard to know how much of the effect came from the drug and how much - if any - was coincidental.

I've tried smoking legal herbs in the past and found them to have little value.

I will experiment further with this stuff update the thread accordingly.

 

[Keif' Richards]

I'm not being rude or sarcastic here. Can I ask what the Harm Reduction angle is on this topic?

 

[Frog Dreams]

@Keif' Richards

This is a substance I am unfamiliar with and I am asking about it on a harm reduction forum. The potential for harm reduction is there. I don't know until I ask the question. Clearing up the oxytocin thing is harm reduction (in a sense) because facts are important and I will now correct various people in the medicine community as to what this drug isn't.

As far as it applies to me, Osha is legal and appears to be a viable alternative to marijuana... which is something I have abused.

The potential for abuse with Osha is lower than with weed. It doesn't get you super high. It just feels nice. So, perhaps, informing people about my positive experiences with osha might inspire them to try it (which might reduce harm if their osha use replaces use of more toxic substances, even just once or twice).

Should I not talk about Osha on Bluelight? (We talk about every other drug.)

 

[negrogesic]

@Keif' Richards

This is a substance I am unfamiliar with and I am asking about it on a harm reduction forum. The potential for harm reduction is there. I don't know until I ask the question. Clearing up the oxytocin thing is harm reduction (in a sense) because facts are important and I will now correct various people in the medicine community as to what this drug isn't.

As far as it applies to me, Osha is legal and appears to be a viable alternative to marijuana... which is something I have abused.

The potential for abuse with Osha is lower than with weed. It doesn't get you super high. It just feels nice. So, perhaps, informing people about my positive experiences with osha might inspire them to try it (which might reduce harm if their osha use replaces use of more toxic substances, even just once or twice).

Should I not talk about Osha on Bluelight? (We talk about every other drug.)

I think it is fine (I mean the tag "ethnobotanical" exists for things like this, and was never meant to be limited to harm reduction, but rather general discussion of ethnobotanicals). There has been a shift over time to try to limit discussion to harm reduction, but as you can see by the very existence of the tag ethnobotanical, this wasn't always the case. Traffic here is so slow these days anyhow, so my philosophy is to pretty much allow anything that isn't blatantly against the rules or irrelevant to the site.

 

[Foreigner]

I'm a clinical herbalist and we use osha in certain cases, mostly wet-type chest congestion and cold viruses that descend into the lungs. It is acrid, hot and bitter in nature, so it will dry out mucous membranes. Its hot and airy nature causes energy to subjectively "rise," especially where there is internal dampness weighing a person down. Another traditional use, which may shed light on the euphoria felt when using it, is that it somehow enhances oxygen metabolism, maybe through its action on lung tissue. This is reflected in its use for altitude sickness, and its tendency to grow more at the alpine level of mountains. Whatever property it evolved to metabolize atmospheric gases at higher altitude also confers this property to the humans who take it. This is similar to another plant, which IIRC is related to osha, called rhodiola rosea.

Osha suffers from overharvesting. It's a small plant that takes forever to grow. A root big enough to harvest takes approximately 6-7 years to mature, and will be small on account of the arid alpine levels it grows in: rocky, shallow soil depth, lower atmospheric pressure, low humidity, dry. There are commercial grows now, so try to buy from them. Usually the mom and pop herbal stores are picking it themselves from the wild, which is frowned upon. Go to a reputable company.

I personally hate the taste/smell of it. It tastes like a really spicy, bitter celery and when you take a drop of the tincture it fills your sinuses, throat and lungs with that gross fragrance. That's why we don't give it to clients very much. It's usually used for the worst, phlegmy chest infections, especially when the person's lungs are getting tired from fighting.

 

[G_Chem]

I think it is fine (I mean the tag "ethnobotanical" exists for things like this, and was never meant to be limited to harm reduction, but rather general discussion of ethnobotanicals). There has been a shift over time to try to limit discussion to harm reduction, but as you can see by the very existence of the tag ethnobotanical, this wasn't always the case. Traffic here is so slow these days anyhow, so my philosophy is too pretty much allow anything that isn't blatently against the rules or irrelevant to the site.

Yea I think we are shooting ourselves in the foot to nitpick threads..

And I’ve said this many times to you @Keif' Richards that a thread like this perfectly falls in line with HR. (I’m my opinion…) Nearly any drug related discussion does… In this case we just had the OP learn oxytocin isn’t contained within the plant. Which goes against many of the other poor sources out there. Also anyone looking to learn about this plant may find out site via searching and it’s definitely HR to have any and all drug related info available for people to learn from..

I’ll be honest I’m starting to get annoyed by having to defend this point. We’d be nothing if all we did was allow questions about drugs that most people already know the answer to. We need to be cutting edge in our discussions.

Carry on @Frog Dreams

-GC

 

[Keif' Richards]

Okay thanks for clearing all of that up guys. I hope I didn't come off as condescending. I know Bluelight has to continue evolving and changing. Sometimes I lose track of things. I think "ethnobotanicals" are an under-studied and under-utilized topic.

I kind of believe that in the process of discovering new drugs, we discovered stuff like Cocaine, Amphetamines, Opioids etc. early on and I feel medical science has rested on its laurels as these substances are all potent and effective. My question is, are there substances out there that can do these things better, more efficiently, with less side effects.

I can't stress enough that when you're experimenting with stuff like this, you always need to make sure your source is reputable. The process of trying medications out is time-consuming and tedious. It's even more bullshit when you find that your substances aren't even real.

 

[Frog Dreams]

You're all good @Keif' Richards

Much love, my friend.

...

Thanks for the responses, people.

I know it traditionally has positive benefits for respiratory problems, but I also believe it has muscle relaxant properties.

I will continue to experiment with it and post some in this thread or (preferably) post a collection of Trip Reports.