Bristow Teen Gets A Bad Brew

Friday, April 13th 2007, 10:04 am

By: News On 6

A Bristow teen and his friends brewed some tea that landed one of the boys in the hospital. Now all of them may be in hot water. Police say the tea contained jimson weed. It is illegal and can be very dangerous. Police say three to four boys found a recipe for it on the Internet. Two of them took it, and it made one of the boys very sick. The News On 6â€™s Latoya Silmon reports now, there's big talk in this small town about a bad brew.

â€œNot only does it affect my professional life, but my home life as well because it was a situation where we had to sit down and discuss it at the dinner table," said Bristow Police Officer Matt Langston.

Bristow Police say some high school boys made jimson weed tea.

â€œIt's pretty prevalent out in the wild,â€ said Langston.

Common names for jimson weed include locoweed, devil's trumpet, mad hatter and zombie's cucumber.

â€œIt's been around for a long time,â€ said Certified Medical Toxicologist Dr. Bill Banner. â€œIt's a very misguided attempt to get high. It's not a pleasant experience."

The Bristow High victim's grandfather says the boy didn't know jimson weed was in his tea. Police say he will not face charges, but two others may.

â€œSo far through the investigation and all the statements that were made, they knew what they had,â€ said Langston. â€œThey knew what they made them from. They gathered the plants themselves and manufactured it themselves.â€

Doctors say it's up to parents to know what to look for. Side effects include irregular heartbeat, hallucinations and paranoia. Those on the drug often become very scared. Symptoms like these are what landed the Bristow High student in the hospital.

"What they did looking for a good time could have got them killed," said Langston.

The boy who got sick was in the hospital for two days because of the tea. He is at home recuperating. His grandfather says he will not suffer any long term side effects.