Native Weed Sends Teens to Hospital

Marika Lorraine Reporting
KFOR-TV

6:27 p.m. CDT, August 2, 2011

BETHANY, Okla. -- Tuesday morning two young men went to the hospital and one into police custody in Bethany. One of the teens, a 17 year old, is suffering hallucinations so severe, we're told he is trying to smoke his nurse's fingers.

It's all because of a weed native to Oklahoma that's a growing trend among teens.

It has many names like Jimson Weed, Moon Lilly and Thorn Apple.

Officers know it as "Trouble."

Lt. Phillip Wise with the Bethany Police Department said, "We got a call from a concerned parent who said they had to rush their kid to the hospital because he was acting strange."

When officers arrived to the home in Bethany, they found the teen who had been acting strange wasn't the only one who needed their attention.

Wise said, "When we got over here we found another one unconscious inside the house. Come to find out they had been using Jimson Weed."

It's a white flower with prickly seed pods.

The trend is for teenagers to cut the insides out and eat the seeds.

Wise said, "It's bad news."

The result is often dangerous with hallucinogenic side effects and can cause seizures and organ damage.

That's why Bethany Police took 19-year-old Skylar Nigus into custody.

He allegedly supplied the seeds to the other two young men who ended up in the hospital.

Nigus was arrested for possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Wise said officers will have the young men show where they got the plant and it will be cut down.

He warns parents to talk to their kids about the new drug.

BETHANY, Okla. -- Tuesday morning two young men went to the hospital and one into police custody in Bethany. One of the teens, a 17 year old, is suffering hallucinations so severe, we're told he is trying to smoke his nurse's fingers.

It's all because of a weed native to Oklahoma that's a growing trend among teens.

It has many names like Jimson Weed, Moon Lilly and Thorn Apple.

Officers know it as "Trouble."

Lt. Phillip Wise with the Bethany Police Department said, "We got a call from a concerned parent who said they had to rush their kid to the hospital because he was acting strange."

When officers arrived to the home in Bethany, they found the teen who had been acting strange wasn't the only one who needed their attention.

Wise said, "When we got over here we found another one unconscious inside the house. Come to find out they had been using Jimson Weed."

It's a white flower with prickly seed pods.

The trend is for teenagers to cut the insides out and eat the seeds.

Wise said, "It's bad news."

The result is often dangerous with hallucinogenic side effects and can cause seizures and organ damage.

That's why Bethany Police took 19-year-old Skylar Nigus into custody.

He allegedly supplied the seeds to the other two young men who ended up in the hospital.

Nigus was arrested for possession of marijuana and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Wise said officers will have the young men show where they got the plant and it will be cut down.

He warns parents to talk to their kids about the new drug.

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