4 Youths Made Seriously Ill by Tea From Jimson Weed : Drugs: All are expected to recover. Officials say the plant, found along roadsides, can cause nerve and muscle damage, even death.

Three youths went into comas and another suffered spasms Thursday morning after they tried to get high by drinking a tea made from jimson weed, a common roadside plant, police said.

The boys, ages 15 to 17, were taken to local hospitals and are expected to recover, although one remains in fair but stable condition in intensive care.

Poison-control officials said a few dozen Southern California teen-agers become ill each year after either smoking or ingesting parts of the jimson weed, a member of the poisonous nightshade family. While no fatalities have been recorded, the plant can cause seizures and severe nerve and muscle damage if a person does not receive prompt medical attention.

“We have not had any patients die from it, but the potential is there,” said Kathy Karlheim, assistant director of the Regional Poison Center at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

Helen Burke, whose 17-year-old son, Travis, is still in intensive care, warned other parents to get rid of the plants if they have any growing near their houses or see their teen-agers bring it home.

“My 18-month-old grandson was at the house the other day,” she said. “If he had picked any up and eaten it, it would have killed him.”

Burke said the four teen-agers had apparently brewed the jimson weed tea in a coffee pot at her house sometime after midnight. She said she and her husband were awakened around 5 a.m. by the sound of her son having spasms in the hallway. Her son collapsed in the doorway to their bedroom, she said, and her husband called 911.

“I was very concerned when we realized it was my son in the doorway, and he was not responding,” she said. “I know we’ve had our differences, but he’s my baby, and I didn’t want anything to be wrong with him. When the paramedics said they didn’t have enough experience with (jimson weed), I didn’t know what to expect.”

Burke said her son is expected to come home from the hospital in a few days.

Authorities would not release the identities of the other juveniles.

Poison-control and police officials said jimson weed poisoning is fairly rare but has been happening for decades. The plant contains atropine, a drug used in some heart medications and anesthetics. Medical experts said atropine causes sleepiness, hallucinations and euphoria but is toxic in high doses.

Police said they do not think the youths broke any laws, but Orange Police Lt. Timm Browne said his department regularly sees incidents of youths smoking the plant each spring when it blooms. Other police officials said years go by before they see cases.

“This is so rare, it’s unreal,” Sheriff’s Lt. Bob Rivas said. “My last experience with it was in 1981.”

He said that in that instance, some inmates from the James A. Musick Jail near the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station recognized the weed growing near the facility and made some tea with it. They became very agitated, he said, and had to receive medical treatment.

Karlheim said symptoms of jimson weed poisoning don’t appear for about six to eight hours, faster if it is smoked.

“These kids think they’re getting an instant high,” she said. “But they don’t realize it will take so long, so they keep eating it and then it hits them.”

She said initial symptoms include dryness around the mouth, reddening of the skin and high fever. Jimson weed impairs vision by causing the pupils of the eye to dilate, Karlheim said, and it causes people to become very combative and agitated.

If a person does not receive treatment, the poison can cause seizures, high blood pressure and heart problems that could eventually result in death, she said. Serious long-term health problems include kidney failure and muscle damage.

Dr. Isi Russ, director of the emergency department at Chapman General Hospital, said treatment involves emptying the person’s stomach, giving anti-seizure medication if necessary, and then monitoring the person to make sure there are no lingering effects.

“Young people do OK,” he said. He added that the main risk of harm comes when a person tries to do other activities while the drug is still in the body.

“Because they are so agitated and hallucinating,” he said, “if they are swimming, they can drown, or if they’re driving they can get into accidents, or run in front of cars.

Poisonous Weed

Every year, a few dozen Southern California teen-agers become ill after smoking or ingesting parts of jimson, a common roadside weed. No fatalities have been recorded, but the plant can cause severe nerve and muscle damage.

* Name: Jimson weed (Datura stramonium).

* Description: One to five inches high; gray-green leaves that are egg-shaped and hairy; large, white, tubular flowers; fruit with many small spines.

* Habitat: Loose sand in gullies and on plains; ranges from Central California east to Texas, south to Mexico.

* Blooms: May to November.

* Comments: Also known as Jamestown weed. Has been cultivated as a pot herb and may be used to produce a highly narcotic drink that can be fatal. Indians used the weed for medicinal and religious purposes. A member of the nightshade family.

Sources: The Audubon Society Pocket Guides to Familiar Flowers of North America, Roadside Plants of Southern California, the World Book Encyclopedia.