Sassafras and Poison Ivy - irony of nature

Recently have had reason to do a little learning and research on Sassafras. Among other things I found out - it is the principal ingredient in many root beer formulas as well as other similar soda flavors; other formulas are based on Sarsaparilla, others are based on a combination of both Sassafras and Sarsaparilla. Various web sites sell the premade extracts of Sassafras and or Sarsaparilla for making various flavors of homeade soda, but the forumula for these typically calls for the use of copious amounts of refined sugar. I'm thinking that there may be a way to subsitute the use of refined sugar with something else and thereby make a homeade root beer forumla that better obeys nature, but this of course will require more learning and training.

The plot thickens when one researches the path of making their own extracts. It seems that in 1930, the fda deemed/ruled Sassafras "a poisonous carcinogen" that they [minions of the fda] must control so as to save the good people from unwittingly poinsoning themselves in partaking of nature. This caused me to refer to my Christopher Herbal Guide book in hopes that he may have debunked what this was really all about, similar to the way this book debunks the fda's position on other natural herbs, Lobelia, for instance. I did not find any such debunking in the Christopher book. The closest I found was his caution to be careful using Sassafras with pregnant women, and children under age 10 years. There was also a general caution that nobody should consume too much Sassafras in a short period of time. This didn't tell me the whole story, whatever it might be, so for now this part of the mystery remains for me, but I gotta figure, there is a story there somewhere. Call me a skeptic. Christopher's book does however mention the use of Sassafras in various forms to help treat exposure to Poison Ivy as well as Poison Oak. I stored this tidbit away in my memory banks since both of these plants have caused me great grief many times in the past.

I also noted that there are several distinct and useable parts of a Sassafras bush, to include the outer bark, the Pith (can anyone explain exactly what Pith is?) and Oil of Sassafras. How does one get Sassafras Oil out of a Sassafras bush? Christopher did not really mention much about using the leaves/foliage/stems/etc.

While doing further research on growing Sassafras, I found various articles that describe where and how it grows in nature, and what it looks like. I'm sorta already familar with how some Sassafras leaves form - kinda look like three or four-fingered hands, or mittens. (yes, not much, but a bit of my highschoool science indoctrination stuck, and in this case, for an actual beneficial purpose ! ;), but shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone, if the OBE minions get wind of this, they will surely order a quick revision of this portion out of their "how to subvert the young mind" textbooks used in most amercian schools. Several articles mention how Sassafras may grow as a bush out of the trunk of a dead tree. In southern climates, Sassafras can grow as a tree upwards to 20 feet tall. Guess what I have in my side yard?----yep, you guessed it, a roughly 6-foot tall leftever trunk of a dead tree. It marks the spot I chose as the main landing area for the birds to use in approaching the bird feeder I installed. Guess what I noticed growing out of the side of this dead tree last summer when I was first looking for a new place to live, and since forgot about now that it has been several months since I moved into this house? --right you are again, a Sassafras bush. Yesterday I visited the deeper reaches of the side yard to inspect the Sassafras bush. I noticed several new shoots springing forth. I looked closer and also noticed several young but flourishing shoots of poison ivy growing right beside the Sassafras. So I did what any Poison Ivy-phobe would do, I donned my anti-poinson ivy gear - long sleave shirt, goggles, gloves, full legged pants, and hat to cover head, and my trusty hoe. Yes, a moment of silence for the recently deceased poison ivy bush now lying sideways and drying in the sun at the tp of the pile of dead brush at the back of the side yard. The good news is, the Sassafras has been liberated! In the future I plan to celebrate this as Ocho de Mayo in memory of my Sassafras bush's liberation, but of course, I only rent, so this tradition may last only as long as my pocket book does :)