I suspect the amount of safrole you get in a cup of sassafras tea is pretty negligible. Anyway, I expect I'll get cancer at some point, anyway. Lots of people do! The thing is, if you go out and pick your own sassafras, it's just you and the tree. No middleman. No person putting it in a package. No chance of adulteration. Plus--you're outside with a tree. I feel like all the good vibes that come from that probably do more on the good side than the safrole does on the bad side.

I mean, I wouldn't say this about *every* cancer-causing agent. Asbestos-- I'd avoid that, for example. And nicotine. But things like saccharine and safrole, not so much. (Actually, I'm not a big fan of saccharine, but I include it for an example because it's another one where the amounts you'd need to take to make a difference seem really small... at least, based on casual hearsay. I don't have any real *facts* at my fingertips.)