Good news is I may have avoided a run in with the law, bad news is it makes my head hurt more.
As most of you may know I am an advocate for all Alternative (Tradition) means of medication and living. However, this does not mean I am selling anything that is deemed illegal.
I made a video roughly a year ago about the Japanese Knotweed plant and how people can control the highly invasive plant that grows all over the USA by simply harvesting and eating it. Japanese Knotweed contains anti-inflammatory properties to help with arthritis and Lyme Disease.
Someone reached out and wanted to know if I would be willing to send them some seeds. At first I was excited that someone watched my video and wanted to grow some for themselves for either food or to ease some of the issue it could help with. I sent them a message asking for an address to ship them to and then it dawned on me that some States have plant/seed restrictions, so I decided to check just in case. Turns out because Japanese Knotweed is highly invasive and grows basically all over North America, so some States have made it illegal to purchase, trade or sell certain plants. As I did a little more research I found out why.
“Invasive species are problematic, and their introductions into natural systems can be intentional or unintentional. Invasive species can be animals, plants, fungi and even microbes. Billions of dollars are spent each year in the United States to control invasive species. It has been estimated that $45 million per year is spent on control of the invasive Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) on federal lands. That’s a lot of cash!”
(Source: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/Habitat/WildAcres/wabadplants.asp)
Although, I can agree that these plants are difficult to control, it leads me to why I started getting annoyed again at the fact that WE need to all work WITH nature, instead of against it. The United States spends BILLIONS of dollars to control these plants by spraying noxious chemicals on them …even though they keep coming back each year. I am just guessing the chemicals cannot be good for people or the environment when you drive down the road that has signs posted informing people to roll their windows up because they spray the area. The Japanese Knotweed not only has beneficial properties, it also taste like and can be a substitute for rhubarb. Most if not all of that money could be used towards something more positive…like the education of the plants around us.
I have met people that have claimed they were approached by “agents” about certain seeds of basically harmless plants before and had to hand them over. I could only imagine getting a knock on the door from the police to be arrested on a charge of supplying the seeds for an invasive plant that isn’t on the DEA Schedule Drug list. With all the “conspiracies” and trolls out there on the interweb I felt it was smarter to cut my loses and opt out of sending them anything from the plant.
Although, I believe it was a real person who just wanted to try and grow the plants for themselves I still had to decline. I felt bad, but informed the person that this plant grows in their area and should look around water runoffs either on the side of the streets (try to use plants about 100ft away from roads) or down by river beds.
I just thought I would throw it out there that we all have to be careful of such things. I am not saying planting invasive plants in new places won’t “ruin” the Eco-system. I am not saying there aren’t people out there that will take precautions on limiting the growth of such plants. I am just saying the chemicals being used to spray and control them are probably much worse.
As long as Nature is Illegal we are not FREE. Learn to live WITH nature not against it. Together We can grow a better future.
