If you’re suffering from pain of any type, your first impulse might be to reach for a pill. If that is the case, then you are not alone. Many people rely on over-the-counter or prescription pain medication, but these come with the risk of severe side effects and drug dependency issues. A large segment of our population is popping these highly addictive meds like candy, often masking the problem rather than fixing it.

Did you know that many herbs and spices can treat inflammation and other related conditions that cause acute or chronic pain? Big Pharma, or the “legal drug lords” as Natural Blaze calls them, have most of us believing that if you want the “good stuff,” you need their drugs.

While they are laughing their way to the bank, millions of people are becoming addicted to these pills, which has led to the current epidemic of opioid addictions and overdoses. In the United States, it is so bad that prescription opioid-related deaths have surpassed gun-related deaths. Furthermore, once these people are caught in the web of a “legal” drug addiction, the step to the illegal market and heroin is easily made when they get turned away from the medical system.

Wild lettuce, a healthy morphine-like pain alternative growing in your backyard

Wild lettuce is a tall, leafy plant with small, yellow buds commonly found in gardens across North America and England. Also known as Lactuca Virosa, opium lettuce, or bitter lettuce, this medicinal plant has long been used in folk medicine as a substitute to opium, hence its name opium lettuce. While it has been used for centuries, it was in the 1970s that it started to gain significant popularity, both for pain relief and recreational purposes.

Opium lettuce’s pain-relieving and sedative effects come from the white substance, called lactucarium, found in the stem and leaves. Just like morphine, compounds in the milky substance act directly on the central nervous system to lessen the feeling of pain. Unlike its name may suggest, the plant doesn’t contain any opiates and is legal.

Patients with Epstein-Barr Virus, Fibromyalgia, nerve injury, surgical pain, and inflammation could all benefit from making the switch to this natural remedy. As reported by Ask A Prepper, next to its pain-relieving properties, this medicinal plant also works wonders in the treatment of coughs, insomnia, and anxiety. Migraine sufferers claim that they experience fewer migraine attacks when they use wild lettuce.

Furthermore, it can be very beneficial for asthma patients since opiate medications can cause more asthma episodes when they go through opiate withdrawal. The use of opium lettuce instead of opiate drugs could give the same results while keeping withdrawal symptoms and additional asthma attacks at bay.

There are many ways to consume the plant to reap its pain-relieving benefits. In the old days, people used to steep a herbal tea of the dried leaves and stems or cook the plant in water with a sugar mix until a syrup-like substance is left. While tea remains popular today, because of its bitter taste, many people are also using the dried leaves and stems for smoking or vaporizing. (RELATED: Learn more about natural remedies at Remedies.news.)

If you are not living in a place where this medicinal plant grows in the wild and are in pain, you shouldn’t miss out on its pain-relieving benefits. You can purchase wild lettuce as a dried herb, extract or resin. However, these commercial options may disappear in the near future. Given its euphoric qualities and recreational use, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is trying to add this natural, non-opiate plant to the list of illegal substances.

Sources:

NaturalBlaze.com

AskAPrepper.com

NaturalNews.com