Jimsonweed intoxication in adolescents and young adults

W. Klein-Schwartz and G. M. Oderda

Seventy-three jimsonweed exposures reported to a regional poison center over a five-year period were reviewed. The ingestors' mean age was 17.3 years (range, 11 to 28 years). The most common route of exposure was oral, and the circumstance was drug abuse or experimentation in the majority of the cases. Although 11 callers remained at home, 59 required medical care in an emergency department or were admitted to the hospital. Treatment consisted of gastrointestinal decontamination, supportive care, and physostigmine salicylate administration. Almost 40% of the medically treated patients received physostigmine for severe hallucinations. One of the 59 medically treated patients had seizures develop. Calls to the poison center regarding jimsonweed differed from other calls in several respects. Jimsonweed abuse is a potentially serious form of substance abuse in adolescents and young adults.