Gardeners may love them for their large blooms and delicate fragrance, but the Arapahoe County sheriff issued a warning Thursday to parents and kids alike about the dangers of moonflowers.
In the past week, four Arapahoe County teenagers have gone to the hospital suffering from severe intoxication after ingesting parts of moonflower plants. The seeds, leaves and roots – when eaten, smoked or brewed into a tea – cause hallucinations and other medical problems.
“I’m concerned that many, many people may believe that this is a recreational high,” Sheriff Grayson Robinson said. “But in truth, this is a toxic material with some very real consequences.”
All of the teens, males 16 and 17 years old, are OK now, Robinson said.
On Sunday, an Arapahoe County deputy received a call about two intoxicated teens. When the deputy began talking to the teens, though, he realized it was unlike any intoxication he had ever seen.
“The symptoms were more that they didn’t even realize they were interacting with a sheriff’s deputy,” Robinson said. “They were not cognizant of their surroundings.”
Robinson said the teens’ physical and mental conditions deteriorated rapidly. Deputies had to physically restrain the teens while placing them in an ambulance because they had become so combative.
A third teen was brought to the hospital later that day with the same symptoms. And a fourth teen, who apparently ingested moonflower in a separate incident, went to the hospital Tuesday, Robinson said.
Moonflowers are part of a family of plants that include jimson weed. The plant, which blooms at night, is typically 3 feet high and is native to the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico. In the fall, it produces thorny pods containing seeds.
Within an hour of ingesting the plant, symptoms begin, said Mary Hilko, a nurse, poison specialist and public education coordinator of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver.
The substance causes agitation, confusion and hallucinations, Hilko said. Heart rate and blood pressure can climb, mouths can become dry, skin turns dry, hot and flushed, and vision is blurred, Hilko said. In severe cases, the plant can cause seizures and comas.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
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