Get this as a major weed here in our area of Colorado.. whenever I pull it, I have to wear thick gloves otherwise I get stabbed and it HURTS.. plus my hand, where it got stabbed, will swell up & be all red & painful for a while.

Are you sure your plant is wavyleaf thistle? There are a lot of thistle species, many of which are considered to be weeds, but wavyleaf isn't particularly weedy. Wavyleaf is a rhizomatous perennial so you wouldn't get any roots when pulling it up (it would also be futile to pull it).

Thistles don't produce toxins in their spines. However, the spines do have tiny barbs, so once they penetrate your skin, they do a lot of damage as you pull them out. The damage stimulates an inflammation reaction from your body (the swelling, redness, and pain).

Kent - I honestly have no idea which kind of thistles we have here at we have at least 3-4 different kinds. But the leaves look VERY much so like the ones you posted. And I noticed are a bit more of a greyish in color. But they do have wavy leaves in addition to a bazillion barbs and thorns & ouchies & yuck. And it *is* very futile in pulling them up and they seem to drink RoundUp as if it was KoolAid.

Here's a sample of what I'm talking about. Ouchtime.

That is Scotch Thistle, certainly considered to be a weed in most of North America.

Scotch Thistle (Onopordum acanthium)

Can we just call them all a blanket "Ouch Thistle"? LOLLLL