[citation needed] The plant was already called fūmus terrae (smoke of the earth) in the early 13th century, and two thousand years ago, Dioscorides wrote in De Materia Medica (Περὶ ὕλης ἰατρικῆς) and Pliny the Elder in Naturalis Historia that rubbing the eyes with the sap or latex of the plant causes tears, like acrid smoke (fūmus) does to the eyes.

Within Western Asia it is found in the Caucasus, Cyprus, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Siberia, Syria and Turkey.

In southeastern Europe, within Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia.

[4] As of 2011, herbal products made from this plant are legally sold in various forms in Austria, Germany, France and Spain.

In the European Union as a whole, marketing of the plant is not necessarily legal: it has been rejected from the Community List by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products due to the lack of toxicology studies.

An antispasmodic effect on the upper digestive tract in vitro and in animal studies is considered sufficiently documented.

Numerous clinical studies in its amphocholeretic uses in humans have demonstrated the tolerability and safety of dosages used, but there has only been one small double-blind trial with placebos which was inconclusive regarding efficacy.

A larger double-blind trial with placebos investigating and comparing its use in the treatment of pain and distension due to irritable bowel syndrome with Curcuma demonstrated no statistically significant differences between treatment groups (although use of either herb appeared to slightly worsen either distension or pain respectively, compared to placebo use).

[4] Howard (1987) warns that fumitory is poisonous and should only be used "under the direction of a medical herbalist",[10] but in Europe, no safety problems with its use have been recorded as of 2011.