tcm (r&d) : Devils Apple

Devils Apple - Datura stramonium

Please find information on this highly toxic plant as found on Wikpedia.

Further details of this plant will be available once further research into the spread and effects of the plant has been undertaken.

UK Example - Autumn 2006

Cultivation and Uses

Effects 

Datura stramonium, also called Jimson Weed, gypsum weed, Loco Weed, Jamestown Weed, Thorn Apple, Angel's Trumpet, and Zombie's Cucumber is a common poisonous weed in the Nightshade Family. It contains tropane alkaloids that are sometimes used as a hallucinogen. The active ingredients are atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine which are classified as deliriants, or anticholinergics.

Datura stramonium is, on average, 30 to 150 cm tall with erect, forking and purple stems. The leaves are large, 7 to 20 cm long and have irregular teeth similar to those of oak leaves. The flowers are one of the most distinctive characteristics of Datura stramonium: they are trumpet-shaped, white to purple, and 5-12.5 cm long. The flowers open and close at irregular intervals during the evening, earning the plant the nickname Moonflower. The fruit are walnut-sized, egg-shaped, and covered in prickles, they split into four chambers, each with a few kidney-shaped seeds. All parts of the plant emit a foul odor when crushed or bruised.

It would appear that this is by no way a recent invader.  Reputedly imported from India and spread throughout the UK, Europe and America in a similar manner to the majority of invasives, this plant is only recently becoming highlighted as an issue.

The effects caused by the plants have been known for many years.  Its effect on Livestock is also to be noted as in the absence of other food, livestock will consume Devils Apple and this can be fatal.

As with other alien invasives, the increased development of Brownfield Sites seems to be one of the reasons why this plant is coming to our attention more often.  Not truly invasive in the terms of plants such as Knotweed, it is however potentially considerably more dangerous. 

UK Examples

Cultivation and Uses

Jimson weed grows in most habitats, but thrives in high-nutrient soil. It is found throughout all of the United States, barring the Northwest and the northern Great Plains. It is most commonly found in the South. Datura stramonium is also found throughout many other parts of the world. Goats will occasionally eat jimsonweed, and subsequently die a slow and painful death.

Teenagers occasionally use datura as a cheap alternative to illegal drugs. Typically it is not illegal, although some American states do have laws regulating its consumption. It is typically consumed as a sort of herb tea, though it can also be eaten or smoked. Overall, it has a very low demand as a recreational drug, because it has a reputation as a very poor/unpleasant high.

Effects

There is a mnemonic for the physiological effects of datura/atropine intoxication: "blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as hell, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone." The actual effects are reported to be: cycloplegia and mydriasis (extreme dilation of the pupil), flushed, warm and dry skin, dry mouth, urinary retention and ileus (slowing or stopping of intestinal movement), rapid heart beat, hypertension or hypotension, and choreoathetosis/jerky movements. In case of overdose the effects are hyperthermia, coma, respiratory arrest, and seizures. The vast majority of atropine-poisoning cases are accompanied by delirium with hallucinations.

The effects of Datura have been described as a living dream: consciousness falls in and out, people who don't exist or are miles away are conversed with etc. The effects can last for days. Tropane alkaloids are some of the few substances which cause true hallucinations which cannot be distinguished from reality. This is unlike psylocybin or LSD, which only cause sensory distortions.

The doses that cause noticeable effects, and the doses that can kill are very close with datura. This makes overdosing on Datura stramonium very easy. This can be fatal; it can cause fevers in the 105-110 (40-43°C) range which is a range that can kill brain cells, and lead to brain damage. There are many instances of teenagers looking for a cheap high poisoning themselves to death on datura. If someone overdoses on datura it is advised to cause vomiting, to wash out his or her stomach, and to get the person hospitalized immediately.

If taken recreationally, the Datura experience seems almost identical from person to person. After ingestion, the user does not notice any conscious effects, no matter how bizarre, for quite a while, which is why overdoses are so common; most people redose, thinking it's not working, when in fact they're passing an imaginary cigarette to an imaginary friend. According to some reports, Datura causes very similar experiences from person to person; often effects are not noticed at all until an unsuspecting user realizes that he or she was hallucinating. Some users have reported seeing an array of people from their lives. A few anecdotal reports also mention the user's perception of "phantom cigarettes"; the person believes that he or she is smoking a cigarette only to find that it has disappeared later, thus realizing that it never existed. At the peak of such experiences users often enter a true psychotomimetic state, in which they "lose touch with reality" altogether; at this point, many find it difficult or impossible to communicate with others.

A majority of users who have written reports on experiences with this drug have described those experiences as unpleasant and often terrifying. This is possibly due to their having taken excessive doses. The powerful effects of Datura continue until the body metabolizes the tropane alkaloids.