One teen went into a coma

BOISE - A plant found around local ditch banks is being used as a drug by area students – sending several of them to local hospitals in intensive care.

The "Moon Flower" plant contains a pod loaded with hundreds of seeds.  Kids are eating the seeds to get high – but the side effects can be devastating.  Students are acting in “bizarre, inexplicable and violent” ways – and the drug can also cause severe liver damage and death in some cases according to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.

The plant – scientifically known as datura – is grown along ditch banks, and blooms at night.  The seeds contain atropine, which attacks the central nervous system and causes hallucinations and euphoria – followed by blurred vision, headaches, nausea, dizziness and severely large eye pupils. It can also cause short term memory loss.

The Sheriff’s Office reports several cases in the past few weeks – with one student even going into a coma.

Sheriff’s deputies have found the plant in a dozen homes in North Ada County – and are alerting homeowners.

Datura has been used for years as an illicit drug – but the Sheriff’s Office says this type of use is new in the Treasure Valley.