Lettuce Opium

Generic name: Lactuca Sativa Var Capitata L. (garden Lettuce)., Lactuca Virosa L. (wild Lettuce).
Brand names: Acrid Lettuce, Garden Lettuce, German Lactucarium, Greater Prickly Lettuce, Green Endive, Lettuce Opium, Strong-scented Lettuce, Wild Lettuce

Usage of Lettuce Opium

Hallucinogenic effects

A variety of legal, alternate "hallucinogenic" products containing lettuce Opium have been available on the market. Brand names of such products include Lettucine, Black Gold, Lettucene, Lettuce Hash, and Lopium. These products contain a lettuce derivative or lactucarium and are smoked in pipes or heated in small bowls, and the vapors are inhaled. These extracts are sometimes combined with damiana distillates, African yohimbe bark, or Catnip distillates.

Clinical data

The hallucinogenic effect is usually mild and appears to be related to the degree of user expectation. There is no pharmacologic basis for the purported hallucinogenic effects of lettuce opium.

Insomnia in pregnancy

Clinical data

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial on efficacy and safety of Lactuca sativa L. seeds on pregnancy-related insomnia demonstrated that lettuce seed decreased insomnia during pregnancy and could be recommended as a safe natural remedy for treatment of pregnancy-related insomnia. In a prospective randomized clinical trial (N=100), pregnant women with insomnia 20 to 45 years of age received capsules containing 1,000 mg of lettuce seed or a placebo daily for 2 weeks.(Pour 2018) The main outcome was the quality of sleep, which was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). An improvement in the PSQI score was significantly greater in patients receiving lettuce seed than those receiving the placebo (n=50). Linear regression analysis showed that, after controlling for the other variables, the average sleep score of the experimental group was significantly lower than for the placebo group (P=0.03).(Pour 2018)

Other uses

Lettuce leaf cigarettes have been marketed as nicotine-free tobacco substitutes. Support for such alternatives has been variable because of slow acceptance of the unique flavor and the lack of a nicotine-induced kick.

Phytochemical and biological screening of several Lactuca species indicates that the genus has no antimicrobial activity, slight antitumor activity, and can produce CNS effects in mice.(Bhakuni 1971, Fong 1972) However, the Lactuca species have resistance to various viruses, bacteria, and fungi (Bremia lactucae).(Chupeau 1994)

While lactucin and lactucopicrin have been reported to have depressant and sedative activity on the CNS, these compounds are chemically unstable; commercial lactucarium contains little of these unstable compounds.(Tyler 1987) the latex of L. sativa has been shown to inhibit the growth of Candida albicans in vitro.(Moulin-Traffort 1990) Extracts of L. sativa resulted in hypotension when administered to dogs.(Huang 1982)

Lettuce Opium side effects

Case reports are lacking; however, a possible association exists between lettuce ingestion and a localized oral allergic reaction.(Bernton 1974) A subjective-self reported study showed that lettuce seed could be used as a safe hypnotic treatment for pregnant women with no side effects; this seems to be attributable to lettuce seed given at a particular dose.(Pour 2018)

Before taking Lettuce Opium

Information regarding safety and efficacy in pregnancy and lactation is under investigation.

How to use Lettuce Opium

Doses of 1,000 mg of lettuce seed have been used successfully for periods of up to 2 weeks to treat insomnia in pregnant women.(Pour 2018)

Warnings

Reports of mydriasis, dizziness, anxiety, urinary retention, decreased bowel sounds, and sympathetic over-activity have been published. An anticholinergic mechanism has been suggested.(Mullins 1998) Mortality in dogs has been reported following intravenous administration.(Besharat 2009, Mullins 1998)

Injection of wild lettuce opium and valerian root have been associated with transient fevers, chills, abdominal pain, flank and back pain, neck stiffness, headache, leucocytosis, and mild liver function abnormalities in 3 young adults.(Lo Faro 2020)

What other drugs will affect Lettuce Opium

None well documented.

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