This goes more to my original observation than to where this thread has drifted to, but here it is, since I've been thinking about it all afternoon.

Of all the safe, effective, time-tested herbal medicines in use today, there is one that's way, way more likely to be prescribed by US doctors than any other one.

Under US federal law, that particular herbal medicine is illegal to buy, sell, or grow in one's own backyard.

And the reason it's the most likely to be prescribed is BECAUSE it's illegal, and because of that, the pharmaceutical companies haven't been able to isolate one or two of the compounds in it, separate them from the other compounds in the plant, synthesize them, and monetize them, then bribe doctors to prescribe it with branded geegaws and free CME.

If that isn't irony, I don't know what is.