I really enjoyed this lecture. I find in a lot of classes I take rooted in science discuss medicine, but rarely mention the origin of the medicine or the plants and ingredients that make up the drug. I was very interested in hearing more about the relationship between plants and medicine because I did not know the extent at which plants are used for medicine. I found when we focused on the different specifics medicine the most fascinating portion of the lecture. I did not know the specifics of opium and all of the different forms it can be found in and the different causative effects. Dr. Kinghorn mentioned the Physostigma veneosum, or Ordeal bean or “truth drug”. This drug was used to decide a verdict of guilty or not guilty based on whether the person being accused died or not. This is honestly a huge representation of paradigm shift and how we look and understand drugs is vastly different. Lastly, Dr. Kinghorn had an interesting take on marijuana. I always hear the vague term “medical marijuana” but never know the extent they are used for, so I liked how Dr. Kinghorn went into the specifics of Dronabinol, Epidiolex, and Sativex.
Also throughout the class, he did a great job relating this material back to our trip specifically by focusing on places we could potentially visit or see in England and London. He mentioned gardens that are famous to visit and explore. I liked the end of the talk where he discussed the actual trip with the class and gave us some inside knowledge of great places to go and eat. I appreciated that because I always want to hear from someone who has been there or lived there and what the best thing to do is. I was also thinking of going to Oxford or Cambridge on our day off in England, so I was glad to hear he recommended the two!