The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Drugs datura seeds Select a topic - - - - - - - - Home Searches AFU FAQ - - - - - - - - AFU Animals Books Celebrities Classic Collegiate Death Disney Drugs Food GIF Language Legal Medical Misc Movies Politics Products Religion Science Sex Songs TV - - - - - - - - Other sites

From: James_Linn@nortel.com (James Linn)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Datura seed chewing incident, the full story (long)
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 1996 12:04:17 -0400

As promised, here is the story that appeared in the Royal Botanical Gardens Magazine (January - March 1996)

Thanks to:
David A. Galbraith, Ph.D.
Coordinator, Canadian Botanical Conservation Network RBG, P.O. Box 399, Hamilton, ON L8N 3H8 Canada

for passing this along

ARTICLE ... H. Yantsis

Holiday weekend poisoning draws RBG staff into action Royal Botanical Gardens' staff are often asked to identify plants, both in person and over the phone. However, on Thanksgiving Day a request came in that was a little different.

Ed McMaster the head of the Information Desk volunteers was on duty that day when he took a call from the emergency room at the Hamilton General Hospital. A child had eaten some seeds and the E.R. staff needed to know what they were in order to prescribe treatment. Ed began calling RBG staff to get some assistance. He was able to reach David Schmidt, our Plant Propagator and Production Supervisor, who then called the hospital to try to identify the plant over the phone. Unsuccessful at this, he asked if the sample could be taxied over to RBG Centre.

When David arrived at RBG he found the sample waiting for him. He knew immediately that it was some sort of herbaceous perennial. Upon consulting some library references he quickly narrowed the specimen down to the genus Datura. His first thought was of Datura stramonium or jimsonweed, but on closer examination the fruits and the leaves did not match the reference descriptions. By this time Charles Holetich had arrived and he helped David with a literature search. Some Datura species are notoriously difficult to distinguish from one another, and it took approximately 45 minutes of research before David had a tentative species identification.

He called the hospital and told the attending physician his conclusions. He also informed the doctor that Datura species in general contain alkaloids capable of producing hallucinations and more dangerous symptoms if ingested. In this case, therefore, knowing the genus was enough. The doctor thanked David for his help. After this urgent and unexpected afternoon's work, David and Charles went home to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with their families.

Later that week a Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police officer visited the Gardens with a plant he wanted identified. David was contacted again and the plant turned out to be the same one he had identified on Monday. The Police Department was doing an investigation and the officer informed us that the Thanksgiving Day poisoning was not an isolated incident. The Board of Education had received reports that students were chewing Datura seeds in order to get an "organic high". As might be expected, the Board wanted advice on how to handle the situation.

Further RBG expertise was brought in; after careful deliberation Jim Pringle, RBG Taxonomist, identified the plant as Datura wrightii. This plant is commonly known as jimsonweed, angel's trumpet or stinkweed. It is found in the wild from Texas to California and south into Mexico but is grows in southern Ontario as a garden ornamental. In its natural range, it is used by native Americans for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.

The Police Department thanked us for our assistance and information which they would use at a meeting with officials at the Board of Education later that week. Meanwhile, the Spectator published a front page article in the October 29 Saturday edition discussing this dangerous new drug trend among local teens.

This incident points out the Gardens' importance as a source of knowledge and expertise within our community, and of the dedication and caring of RBG staff and volunteers. From: Pappus Vol. 14, Issue 1 (Jan. - Mar. 1995)