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State violence is a daily, brutal reality for millions of people. It is not random. It is racialized, classed, and gendered in both its design and its impact, shaping who is targeted, who is punished, and who is left to rebuild their lives. This violence intersects with nearly every form of oppression—from policing and prisons to borders, detention, and militarism. In the face of these forces, plant medicines offer more than comfort: they offer tools for survival, solidarity, and collective resistance.
This book explores how herbalism can support people living under the weight of state repression. From practical care for handcuff injuries, tear-gas exposure, and chronic stress to long-term healing from incarceration, displacement, and trauma, it brings together stories of herbal solidarity from struggles around the world. These are examples not of passive wellness, but of active care—care that builds resilience, nurtures autonomy, and strengthens movements.
Drawing on her lived experience of incarceration, political organizing, and running the Solidarity Apothecary, Nicole Rose maps the many connections between plant medicine and the work of liberation. She shares recipes, remedies, and frontline practices developed in collaboration with communities resisting state control. Each chapter highlights how herbs can help us rest, repair, and return to the struggle with strength and intention.
Through these stories and strategies, Nicole invites us to reconnect with some of our oldest allies—the plants—and to imagine forms of care that defy punishment and deepen solidarity. This book is a call to heal, to support one another, and to keep fighting for a world free from state violence.
Welcome
& How This Book is Structured
Notes on Herbal Safety
Part 1: State Violence & the Body
Herbalism & State Violence
Trauma & the
Body
Herbalism & Trauma Recovery
Collective
Responses to Trauma
Polyvagal Theory, Herbalism, Resiliency
& Healing
Plant Imagination
Part
2: State Repression
Introduction to State Repression
Police Raids & Herbal Allies for Shock
Herbal Support
for Panic Attacks
Defendant Support & Long-Term Chronic
Stress
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Court Support Packs
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Solidarity Sniffers
Remedies
& Recipes: Brave Heart Blend
Remedies & Recipes:
Heavy Heart Tea Blend
Remedies & Recipes: Soothing Spiced Lavender
Milk
I Will Wait for You in the Forest
Nervine Tonic for
Building the New World in the Shell of the Old
Nutritional
Resilience
Trauma, the Gut and Healing: Building Deep Resiliency
with Herbs
Part 3: Police Violence
Introduction to Police Violence
Herbal Mutual Aid During Police
Violence
An Overview of Herbal Street Medic Resources
Street Action Care Kit List
Key Points on Herbal First Aid
Aftercare for All Who Have Experienced Police Violence
•
Herbs & Protocols to Detox from Chemical Weapons Exposure
• Liver Support
• Respiratory Support
• Immunity Support
• Remedies For Bumps,
Bruises, Burns, Taser and Handcuff Injuries
• Nervous
System Support
Remedies & Recipes: Mugwort Hydrosol as
Chemical Weapon Aftercare
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Herbal
Solidarity for Frontline Resistance, HS2
Herbal Solidarity in
Practice: Badger Cull & Hunt Sab Solidarity
Remedies
& Recipes: Fire Cider Recipe
Herbal Solidarity in Practice:
Solidaritea
How To Support an Herbal Call-To Action
Part 4: Prison
Introduction to
Prison
Practising Herbalism in Prison
Trauma Recovery and
Abolition: State Violence, PTSD, and Healing Justice
Healing From
Incarceration
Herbal Support for Nightmares
The
Relentless Rollercoaster of Prisoner Support
Herbs For Prison
Visits
Herbs For Heartbreak & Support After Prison Phone
Calls
Herbs For Anger & Rage
Herbal Allies for
Grief
Remedies & Recipes: Sister Heart Compound for
Grief
Remedies & Recipes: Plant Magic—Crafting A
Ritual Smoke Incense
Trauma and the Prison System: Herbal Allies for
Resilience & Repression
Part 5: Border
Violence
Introduction to Border Violence
Herbal
Solidarity in Practice: The Mobile Herbal Clinic Calais
Organising A
Mobile Clinic: Top Tips
Remedies & Recipes: Mobile Herbal
Clinic Calais Recipes
• Calais Cough Syrup
• Chest Rubs
• Immune Tonic
• Antimicrobial Vinegar
• Bruise
Ointments
• Mouthwash
• Wound
Sprays
• Anti-Itch Spray
• Indigestion
Lozenges
• Other Herbal Items Used in the Clinic
• Other First Aid Essentials
Herbal Solidarity in
Practice: Care Packages for Displaced Women
Herbal Solidarity in
Practice: Solidarity for Asylum Seekers in Ireland
Remedies
& Recipes: Solidarity Soother
Part 6:
Genocide, Occupation & War
Introduction: Plant
Medicines in a War Context
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Ukraine
Herbal Solidarity
Herbal Solidarity in Practice: Lavender Oil in
Solidarity with Palestine
Remedies & Recipes: Lavender
Oil
Contribution: Herbal Remedies Rooted in Ancestral Armenian
Practices
Part 7: Plant Allies
Introduction
Betony
Chamomile
Hawthorn
Lavender
Lemon Balm
Milky
Oats
Rose
Skullcap
St John’s
Wort
Vervain
Conclusion: Plants as Comrades Against and
Beyond the State
Part 8: Resources
Medicine Making Basics
Harvesting, Drying &
Storage
Glossary
Acknowledgements
About Nicole Rose
About The Solidarity Apothecary
About Kes Otter Lieffe
Index