Greetings,

most of the clinical evudence that i have sighted would seem to suggest that giving any psychoactive substance to people while their brain is still developing is not wise.

From my own personal standpoint perhaps the age of consent for such things should corresdond with the age to vote etc, (18 here) and be a part of the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. Though obviously people will still 'break the law'.

With respect to the other posts, the herb is one of many things tied up with self-medication for mental illness. This means that it is very hard to scientifically work out if it is a cause of things like depression, or one of the symptoms. The bottom line is that this is a health issue, the problem is not the herb per se, but the chronic ignorance of mental illness in the general population, and an almost wilful lack of funding or prirority that it is given by most governments.

love and life
paul