The Twisted History of Herbal Medicine in America (Live at 17th IHS)

The following presentation was recorded live at the 17th International Herb Symposium, September 2025.

In 2023, continuing a long upward trend, Americans spent over $12 billion on herbs and herbal supplements. Documented use of humans eating medicinal herbs dates back at least 50,000 years. For the last few thousand years, the history of medicine and the history of herbal medicine were one and the same. In the first U.S. Pharmacopeia, published in 1820, 70 percent of the drugs listed were derived from plants. Today that number is less than 25 percent. So why have medicinal herbs disappeared from modern American standard practice medicine? In this class, we’ll follow the twists and turns in the fascinating history of American herbal medicine, a history that begins with Native American and Greek herbalists and takes a sharp turn 150 years ago.