Jess Battison
A warning has been issued against the ‘scariest drug in existence’.
Perhaps you're expecting it to be the new 'Frankenstein drug' nitazenes which are warned to be extremely strong and even lethal.
Or maybe you think the 'scariest' drug around is heroin or perhaps meth. Reddit users even debated the most freaky one, with some suggesting 'Tranq'.
But the terrifying drug in question is sitting in people’s back garden as a pretty little flower.
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Angel’s Trumpet rarely ever gets used more than once due to its intense effects.
Also known as datura, Jimson Weed, thornapple and moonflower, the white flower can act as a powerful psychedelic agent.
Australia’s National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) previously warned it was ‘poisoning young people’ and causing rapid heartbeats and delirium for up to 20 days.
Daturas have a long history in traditions of various native cultures, having been used as ‘poisons, medicines, and ritual intoxicant agents since time immeorial’ according to the U.S. Forest Service.
It warns: “Ingestion of even small quantities of any plant parts can cause delirium, frenzy, powerful hallucinations, coma, and death.”
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NDARC found that during the 90s, 19 patients were ‘so severely affected’ by ingesting the plant they required treatment with ‘powerful sedative drugs’.
NDARC’s Paul Dillon said: “Datura has a hallucinogenic effect similar to LSD however users that I've talked to have said it was significantly more powerful.
"Very few people who have used it (datura), use it more than once."
It is reported that the plant is linked to numerous deaths, such as one man who jumped off a cliff.
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As datura is extracted from a flower, it’s believed people think it won’t be as harmful as manufactured drugs. But that isn’t necessarily true.
Dillon added: “There seemed to be a perception that natural means that it is safe, although in many instances natural can be more potent.
"With datura you are not getting a measured dose."
He also explained that one young person who was under the influence of datura had to ‘be restrained in hospital’.
As well as causing extremely intense hallucinations, Angel’s Trumpet can also cause vomiting, diarrhoea, dry mouth and fever.
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On Reddit, users call datura the ‘scariest drug in existence’ as one recalled their brother doing it and having his personality ‘permanently altered’.
Others claim to know people who ‘almost died’ and are now ‘completely out of it all the time’.
One user claiming to be an ER/ICU doctor said datura is ‘a whole different beast than any of the other systems in your body’. They say it is ‘insanely dangerous’ as by doing it: “You are fundamentally manipulating the way your brain and body function with no safeguards.”
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week