7 drugs that exist in nature

While we might think of drugs and medicines as originating from the pristine wall of a laboratory, most of them actually come from nature. According to a 2020 review in the Journal of Natural Products, more than 50% of currently available FDA-approved drugs are directly or indirectly derived from natural products, including several of the most well-known. And scientists are always looking to nature as a source of new pharmaceuticals to cure disease. Here are the origin stories of some of the most recognizable drugs.

1. Opium poppy (heroin, morphine, codeine)

Morphine, heroin and codeine are called opioids for a reason: they are derived from the opium poppy. The flower comes in vibrant colors and has even been found in gardens, but is best-known for its narcotic properties. "The earliest reference to opium growth and use is in 3,400 B.C. when the opium poppy was cultivated in lower Mesopotamia," said the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Museum. It was one of the world's earliest painkillers before it became a formidable drug. The poppy is sliced while still in bud form, and the milky fluid (latex) that bleeds out is dried, becoming raw opium; then a long process of adding dangerous chemicals, filtering and cooking increases the potency of the drug.

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2. Agave (tequila and mezcal)

Several varieties of alcohol have natural origins, and tequila is one of them. Both tequila and mezcal come from the fermentation of the agave plant, which is a kind of succulent. The difference is that tequila can only be made with the blue agave species and can only be produced in Mexico, whereas several species can be used to make mezcal. Agave also has health benefits, as it contains B vitamins and antioxidants, and agave syrup can be used as an alternative natural sweetener. However, global warming may be coming for tequila: "Blue agave is losing its genetic diversity due to a widespread asexual reproduction technique adopted by farmers," said Earth.com. "This technique, while effective for tequila production, prevents the plant from flowering, thereby reducing its genetic diversity and making it more susceptible to pests and climate change."

3. Coca leaves (cocaine)

Coca leaves, mostly grown in South America, have to go through some pretty ugly steps in becoming the illegal narcotic cocaine — steps including powdered cement, gasoline soaks and battery acid baths. The plant leaves have long been used as a stimulant to "elevate mood, help with digestion and suppress appetites," said the DEA Museum. It is also brewed as a tea in the Andes region to help combat altitude sickness. Today, cocaine is a Schedule II drug in the U.S. because of its addictiveness and high potential for abuse.

4. Ephedra sinica (Sudafed, meth)

The ephedra plant, primarily grown in Asia, has a number of medicinal properties and has been used "primarily to treat asthma, bronchitis and hay fever" for thousands of years, said Mount Sinai Hospital. "Ephedra is also prescribed for symptoms of cold and flu, including nasal congestion, cough, fever and chills." Because of these properties, it has been used to create the decongestant pseudoephedrine, commonly known as Sudafed. On the more negative side, "pseudoephedrine is easily converted to methamphetamine, the recreational drug also known as meth." Ephedra, a small shrub, has played a role in the increased drug production in Afghanistan; the country experienced a "sudden boom" in meth production after drug traffickers discovered a "potential bonanza" in ephedra, said The Washington Post.

5. Psilocybin mushroom (shrooms)

Psilocybin mushrooms, also called magic mushrooms, have natural psychedelic properties that come from the chemical psilocybin, which occurs naturally and can be found in over 200 species of mushrooms all over the world. While the use of magic mushrooms for medicinal and spiritual reasons can be traced as far back as 3000 B.C., "there is a new surge of interest in discovering how psilocybin works and its potential to help treat conditions such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), addiction, pain and neurodegenerative disorders," said the National Institute of Health. .

6. Sassafras plant (MDMA)

The sassafras plant can be used to create sassafras oil, which contains the psychoactive substance safrole. This substance is used to produce MDA and MDMA, also known as ecstacy. MDMA is a Schedule I drug in the U.S., meaning it is "considered to have no accepted medical use and have a high potential for misuse," said Healthline. Sassafras can have a powerful effect, causing a "euphoric, stimulating and hallucinogenic response in the brain," said the American Addiction Centers. "To describe it differently, sassafras has both stimulant and hallucinogenic effects and increases feelings of pleasure and well-being that create the 'high' experienced by those who use it."

7. Penicillium mold (penicillin)

An extremely common mold led to the discovery of penicillin, the miracle antibiotic. It was the first drug to effectively combat bacterial infections, leading to cures for an untold number of afflictions, from strep to syphilis. It was discovered accidentally by Alexander Fleming in 1928 when he forgot about a petri dish filled with staph bacteria he'd left out. He discovered blue-green penicillium mold growing all over it, and noticed that wherever the mold touched the staph, the bacteria was gone. "Toward the end of the 1950s scientists experimented with the addition of various chemical groups to the core of the penicillin molecule to generate semisynthetic versions," said Britannica. "A range of penicillins thus became available to treat diseases caused by different types of bacteria." The bad news is that more bacteria are becoming antibiotic-resistant now, largely thanks to overprescription.