The melatonin saga

Just to clarify on the rye grass illegal story, the full story on this case is here:
http://www.anh-europe.org/news/welsh-magistrates-return-guilty-verdict-in-novel-foods-case
The basic plot is that, Festuca arundinaceum (Lolium arundinaceum.) , a meadow grass, is now considered a 'Novel food'  therefore requiring a costly licence.  A successful prosecution was brought in a Welsh magistrates court last summer and the 'offender' who sold the meadow grass as a supplement (it contains significant amounts of melatonin but this was not the ostensible reason fro this prosecution) was fined several thousand pounds.

I personally had a hilarious 'Blackadder moment' when I realised that the defending barrister was someone I knew from the Green party many years ago and a very with it chap well versed in these kinds of issues.  In another court case recently he had managed to save a man who attacked his wife repeatedly with scissors from prison - instead being required to do community service and attend a domestic abuse course - while Roger Coghill got what he did for selling meadowgrass - of course it is the lawyer's job to represent his client's interests to the best of his ability, the comparative outcomes in these case reflect the legal system we live under.  Personally I think Roger Coghill of Asphalia has been doing community service for years with his research  - anyway these are the times we live in, ironically one of the causes of the general mental condition is lack of melatonin.

It is perfectly legal, at the time of writing, to grow this melatonin rich festuca grass, and, for that matter, will always remain lawful under Common Law.  You can perfectly legally grow it, consume it and give it to your friends.  In fact two friends are already taking active steps to grow significant amounts of it.

It is the richest known natural plant source of melatonin, one of the biochemicals currently lacking in our brains due to pineal underactivity.  It is likely we produced over 70mg a day during our peak of consciousness as a species.  It is crucial in the accurate reading of the DNA and therefore a particularly important supplement for women of reproductive age but indeed for all of us.