Family harms health, gets high from potato stew

As a general rule, homemade vegetable stew is good for your health. Pan-fry some onions, roast a pepper or two and toss in some potatoes. But here's one more reason to leave the wild herb gathering to the experts: jimsonweed. Six members of a Maryland, U.S. family learned that the hard way when some of the hallucinogenic plant accidentally found its way into homemade potato stew the family ate on July 8, 2008. Disorientation, hysterical laughter, hallucination, rapid heartbeats and vomiting ensued, to the dismay of another family member who arrived home to find the relatives potted.

Despite a brief hospitalization, all recovered. But the incident - including the difficulty local officials had in determining the cause of the family's poisoning - left an impression on public health officials. On Thursday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged health care officials and poison control centers to be aware of the symptoms of jimsonweed poisoning. "Health-care providers and public health officials should be aware that jimsonweed poisoning can occur among many age groups, including younger persons, who typically consume the plant material for recreational purposes, or persons of any age group who might unknowingly ingest the plant," the CDC warned in its weekly Morbidity and Mortality report.

"A prompt diagnosis of jimsonweed poisoning is complicated by the difficulties in eliciting exposure histories in persons with altered mental status... Consultation with horticulturalists, poison control centers, and specialized laboratories might be necessary to investigate cases and outbreaks," the CDC continued.

Jimsonweed, (Datura stramonium), is a plant in the nightshade family. It grows wild throughout much of the United States and often is used for decoration. It has large, white trumpet-shaped flowers and blooms from March through November. It has a long history of ceremonial use by Native American groups, and today is known more among adolescents curious about its hallucinogenic properties. According to one medical journal, the plant is known also as thorn apple, angel's trumpet, stinkweed, and green dragon. Jimsonweed has been used for centuries to treat asthma, diarrhea, and intestinal cramps.

All of that is very cool. Yet it should also be noted that incidents of addiction are extremely rare, the theory being that the experience of being under the influence of jimsonweed is so unpleasant that even the most daring rebels only try it once. In the case of the Maryland family, some of the plant was growing wild near the mint and other herbs and vegetables the family had in the backyard garden. It was gathered up accidentally, and one family member became so ill that a five-day hospital stay was needed. The moral of the story: Stick with the farmer's market, and leave the picking of wild herbs and vegetables - including mushrooms - to the highly trained.