--- title: "Datura: The Psychedelic Which Only Causes Bad Trips" description: "Regardless of one's views on recreational drugs, most people can at least understand how it's possible to develop an addiction. After all, the fundamentals of addiction are the same, no matter the subject — be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, or even extreme sports — the person suffering is stuck in a constant search for that elusive endorphin hit they experienced the first time around. Even with drugs that have the potential to cause negative trips, you can understand why the gamble might be worth it. In fact, the risk might even add to the excitement.\n\nBut what if there were a drug that only ever provided a negative experience? Why would anyone ever take that?\n\nIt's time to find out, as we take a look at the bizarre world of Datura.\n\nAs everybody reading this will be fully aware, you don't have to search too far online to find instructional how-to videos on absolutely anything, and the use of psychedelic drugs is no exception. There is a thriving community that is made up of people who have spent real time and effort calculating just exactly how much of any given substance you might need to achieve certain effects. Obviously, this is not an exact science—different people react in different ways to various chemicals—but for those who are just starting out or are trying something new for the first time, consulting a database of other people's experiences is a good place to start.\n\nOne information source that is held in high regard by fans of altered reality is *psychonautwiki.org*. Although the site is often maligned for encouraging its users to take drugs, in spite of its \"for educational purposes only\" disclaimer, it does take pains to inform researchers of the risks involved.\n\nHere is what it has to say on the subject of Datura:\n\n> \"Datura is extremely dangerous and can directly cause severe injury or death. It is highly unpredictable, and its use is strongly linked to psychosis and death.\"\n\nIf including the word *death* twice within the first two sentences isn't quite enough and you need a little more context, the site's fact sheet on heroin warns of the chance of a fatal overdose but doesn't actually use the word *death* at all. When an easily available—and in many places perfectly legal—substance is ranked as far more dangerous than heroin, and even the most extreme proponents of hallucinogens go out of their way to persuade people not to take it, you know you're dealing with something fairly horrendous.\n\nSo, before we delve into the trip potential, let's have a look at just a few of the many, many physical health risks. Aside from the aforementioned death, Datura can cause:\n\n- Respiratory depression [suppression of the body's natural reflex to breathe]\n- Nausea\n- Physical fatigue\n- Muscle cramps\n- Increased heart rate\n- Increased blood pressure\n- Erectile dysfunction\n- Seizures\n\nAlthough these should really be enough to persuade someone that taking it is not actually a good idea, it is the psychological effects that seem to prevent people from taking it more than once. Datura is actually slightly chemically addictive, but there are only a few recorded instances of anybody actually becoming addicted, and these are strictly anecdotal.\n\nSo, what does it do to you? After all, the main reason people indulge in hallucinogens is to experience a pleasant detachment from reality, complete with some pretty visuals. What can somebody who, for whatever reason, decided to ignore all the warnings and take Datura anyway expect to experience?\n\n## Object Activation\n\nThis one is pretty easy to infer from context but, just in case, the term \"object activation\" refers to ordinary objects such as cups, furniture, rugs, etc., appearing to move of their own accord. Sometimes, this can be fairly innocuous—such as your coffee cup appearing to tilt or to slide across the table on its own. In the case of Datura, however, these activations are often reported to be far more intense. Users have reported seeing doors open and close themselves, knives fly across the room, or, in the case of one particularly memorable account, a rug coming to life, sprouting claws, crawling across the room, and shredding the family dog.\n\n## Shadow People\n\nThe human brain is an incredibly complex system and doesn't always interpret visual data correctly. Even a perfectly sober, slightly tired person might occasionally glimpse a shadow in their peripheral vision, only to find that when they look properly, nothing is there. Now, imagine this happening to you—except that, when you do look properly, a fully formed black cut-out of a human being is standing a few feet away from you. If you're lucky, this shadow person won't do anything at all and will simply disappear after a few seconds. However, the actions of these perceived entities are only really limited by the scope of your own imagination, and a scared human mind is capable of imagining some pretty unsettling things.\n\nAccording to one account from an individual who claims to have spent several days under the influence of Datura:\n\n> \"I was lying on my bed, trying to calm myself down, when I became aware of a shadowy face outside my window. When I turned on the light, the face disappeared, but as soon as I turned it off again it was back. I watched in horror as the face pushed itself through the glass and floated towards me before disappearing into my own chest.\"\n\nIt is worth noting that shadow people are a fairly common occurrence when one experiments with hallucinogens, but in the majority of cases they either disappear when you look directly at them or at least remain stationary. Whilst this can happen when taking Datura, they are far more likely to become animated or appear to interact with the physical world. They aren't always simply vague humanoid shapes either. Although \"shadow people\" is the most commonly used description, they can take the shape of animals, orbs, or even simply disembodied limbs.\n\n## Internal and External Hallucinations\n\nInternal hallucinations can best be described as waking dreams. Although the person who is under the influence can experience anything from mild visual distortions and interesting patterns through to the most horrific of nightmares, these hallucinations take place when the eyes are closed and are very similar to standard dreams. Sure, they can be unpleasant but, by and large, the individual is aware that this is something happening inside their heads.\n\nExternal hallucinations are somewhat different. Depending on the amount of stimulant that has been consumed, the things happening around—or in some cases *to*—the individual can feel very real indeed.\n\n## Time Distortion\n\nMuch like the visual effects where something that isn't actually there appears briefly in your peripheral vision, most of you will have experienced time distortion in one form or another. How many times have you been sat at work on a Friday afternoon watching the clock as it appears to take an inordinate amount of time to tick away the last ten minutes of your day? Conversely, how often have you sat down for a quick beer with a friend only to find that when you next look at your watch, five hours have passed?\n\nOur perception of time is relative to what is currently happening. Now, imagine taking this to the extreme. Imagine a chemically induced trip which, in reality, only lasted a few hours feeling to you like several days. If you're having a good time then this might not be a big deal—it may even be considered a benefit. However, as we are coming to realise, Datura rarely, if ever, works that way.\n\nOne member of the *Into the Shadows* team who was foolish enough to experiment with this during their youth told us of a particularly vivid external hallucination reminiscent of the stereotypical movie scene in which somebody is tortured for information in an abandoned warehouse. Although they genuinely believed themselves to have been in near-constant agony for almost 48 hours, they had in fact simply been sitting in their desk chair with a bunch of keys in their back pocket for about 20 minutes. Although this story has a slightly amusing ring to it, in reality such experiences can be extremely psychologically damaging.\n\nNow that we have covered just a few of the reasons why you should never take Datura, it is perhaps time to talk a little bit about exactly what it is. Where does it come from? How would you recognize it? Does it, in spite of everything we have said so far, have any practical uses?\n\nThere are nine plants that make up the Datura family, but the most common are *Datura inoxia* and *Datura stramonium*. If you were to come across one of these plants in the wild—a fairly common occurrence in places like Asia and Central America—the first thing you would probably notice is the flowers, which **iNaturalist.org** describes as having a pleasing odor, being shaped like trumpets, and being white or creamy in color. Although the leaves and stems of the plant do contain some mind-altering chemicals, the highest concentrations are found in these flowers and the seeds inside the fruit. These seeds especially, contain high amounts of scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine.\n\nNow, we appreciate that not everybody reading is a medical professional or a drug expert, so let's take a quick look at what all of these actually are. We shall start with scopolamine. This actually does have several medical uses but is most commonly prescribed to prevent motion sickness or as a nausea suppressant during surgery. However, it is usually only issued in very small amounts, and there are ongoing debates as to its complete safety.\n\n## Hyoscyamine\n\nThis too has many medical applications, some of which are covered in this brief extract from **MedlinePlus.gov**:\n\n> \"Hyoscyamine is used to control symptoms associated with disorders of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It works by decreasing the motion of the stomach and intestines and the secretion of stomach fluids, including acid. Hyoscyamine is also used in the treatment of bladder spasms, peptic ulcer disease, diverticulitis, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, cystitis, and pancreatitis.\"\n\nThere are two important pieces of information to be aware of here. Firstly, all of the sources we checked specifically advised against taking scopolamine and hyoscyamine together. Secondly, the list of overdose symptoms includes:\n\n- Headache\n- Dizziness\n- Dry mouth\n- Trouble swallowing\n- Nausea\n- Vomiting\n- Blurred vision\n- Hot, dry skin\n\nIf you take a look at the list of minor side effects caused by Datura, you will find each and every one of these in almost exactly the same order. Given that Datura seeds contain quite a lot of hyoscyamine, it is not unreasonable to assume that users are inadvertently overdosing while in pursuit of an altered reality.\n\nThis is, of course, conjecture on our part—they are, after all, pretty common side effects.\n\n## Atropine\n\nThis is another prescription-only drug used to treat, among other things, insecticide and mushroom poisoning. As you may not be entirely surprised to hear at this point, it is highly recommended that you do not use it in conjunction with either of the others.\n\nThe main reason that none of these drugs should be taken together is that they are all, to a greater or lesser degree, capable of either reducing production of or inhibiting the effects of a chemical called acetylcholine.\n\nAs we have already thrown around quite a lot of medical terminology today, we'll keep this brief. Acetylcholine is essential for the correct functioning of the autonomic nervous system—the system responsible for everything that your body does automatically, such as digestion, the creation of tears, and bladder function.\n\nWhen your body does not have enough acetylcholine—perhaps because you have eaten some seeds containing three separate inhibitors—your body starts to experience many of the symptoms associated with Datura use, including vivid hallucinations and detachment from reality. Based on this information, it seems that we may have solved the case of Datura's rather brutal symptoms.\n\nIf you remember way back at the beginning, we said that almost everybody who tries Datura only does so the once. However, outside of the most reckless thrill seekers there is at least one exception to this rule. For thousands of years, Datura has played a large part in various spiritual and religious rituals around the world.\n\nMany Native American tribes used—and, in some cases, still do use—Datura as part of a drink to be consumed in the male coming-of-age ceremony. The resultant visions are said to be messages from spirit guides that must be interpreted by the child in order for him to gain wisdom. Furthermore, there are shamans and medicine men who take Datura regularly, believing that the internal hallucinations it brings can do anything from helping to diagnose patients to allowing them to visit other spiritual planes or converse with the dead.\n\nEven these individuals, though, don't recommend its usage to the inexperienced, because there are just too many variables. The strength of the seeds can vary dramatically depending on the strain, the location, the weather that year, and when they are harvested, so even those people who have spent their entire lives studying the effects and dosage are not completely safe.\n\nWe know that in other articles we have provided much more detail on how certain psychedelics can be prepared and used, but we will not be doing this today, simply because we cannot, in good conscience, be responsible for anyone trying Datura. Yes, such information can be found with a quick Google search, and it is completely legal in many countries, but the potential risks—both physical and psychological—are just not worth it for an almost guaranteed bad trip.\n\n**Please, don't try Datura.**\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- Datura is a highly dangerous plant known for causing severe injury or death.,The plant induces vivid, often terrifying hallucinations, including moving objects and shadow people.,Datura's seeds contain chemicals that inhibit acetylcholine, leading to vivid hallucinations and detachment from reality.,The plant has been used in spiritual rituals but is not recommended for inexperienced users due to its unpredictability.,Datura is ranked as more dangerous than heroin, with extreme proponents of hallucinogens advising against its use.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### What is Datura?\n\nDatura is a psychedelic plant known for causing only negative experiences. It is extremely dangerous and can directly cause severe injury or death. It is highly unpredictable and its use is strongly linked to psychosis and death.\n\n### What are the physical health risks associated with Datura?\n\nDatura can cause respiratory depression, nausea, physical fatigue, muscle cramps, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, and seizures.\n\n### What are the psychological effects of Datura?\n\nDatura is known for causing object activation, shadow people, internal and external hallucinations, and time distortion. These effects are often reported to be extremely unsettling and psychologically damaging.\n\n### What are the common types of Datura plants?\n\nThe most common types of Datura plants are Datura inoxia and Datura stramonium. These plants are known for their trumpet-shaped, white or creamy flowers and contain high concentrations of mind-altering chemicals in their flowers and seeds.\n\n### What chemicals are found in Datura seeds?\n\nDatura seeds contain high amounts of scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine. These chemicals are known to inhibit the effects of acetylcholine, leading to vivid hallucinations and detachment from reality.\n\n### What are the medical uses of scopolamine?\n\nScopolamine is commonly prescribed to prevent motion sickness or as a nausea suppressant during surgery. However, it is usually issued in very small amounts due to ongoing debates about its complete safety.\n\n### What are the medical applications of hyoscyamine?\n\nHyoscyamine is used to control symptoms associated with disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, bladder spasms, peptic ulcer disease, diverticulitis, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, cystitis, and pancreatitis.\n\n### What is the role of Datura in spiritual and religious rituals?\n\nDatura has been used in various spiritual and religious rituals around the world for thousands of years. Many Native American tribes use it in male coming-of-age ceremonies, and shamans use it to diagnose patients and visit other spiritual planes.\n\n### Why is Datura not recommended for inexperienced users?\n\nDatura is not recommended for inexperienced users because the strength of the seeds can vary dramatically depending on factors such as strain, location, weather, and harvest time. Even experienced users are not completely safe.\n\n### What is the general advice regarding the use of Datura?\n\nThe general advice is to avoid using Datura due to its high risks of physical and psychological harm. The potential risks are not worth the almost guaranteed bad trip.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [Original Into the Shadows video: Datura: The Psychedelic Which Only Causes Bad Trips](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevVQIzXKwk)\n- [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Medline_academy_image_4.jpg) by Ainstin / openverse, by-sa.\n\n## Related Coverage" url: https://intotheshadows.pub/article/datura-the-psychedelic-which-only-causes-bad-trips.md canonical: https://intotheshadows.pub/article/datura-the-psychedelic-which-only-causes-bad-trips datePublished: 2026-06-28 dateModified: 2026-06-28 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://intotheshadows.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: Into the Shadows image: "https://media.intotheshadows.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=1600,height=900,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/cevVQIzXKwk/hero.jpg" type: Article contentHash: a758d6c96ba08a55d3be9eebb0e1c5ab0a53a05cff95bd6725cdf80219c9166f tokens: 4336 summaryUrl: https://intotheshadows.pub/article/datura-the-psychedelic-which-only-causes-bad-trips.md.summary.md --- Regardless of one's views on recreational drugs, most people can at least understand how it's possible to develop an addiction. After all, the fundamentals of addiction are the same, no matter the subject — be it drugs, alcohol, gambling, or even extreme sports — the person suffering is stuck in a constant search for that elusive endorphin hit they experienced the first time around. Even with drugs that have the potential to cause negative trips, you can understand why the gamble might be worth it. In fact, the risk might even add to the excitement. But what if there were a drug that only ever provided a negative experience? Why would anyone ever take that? It's time to find out, as we take a look at the bizarre world of Datura. As everybody reading this will be fully aware, you don't have to search too far online to find instructional how-to videos on absolutely anything, and the use of psychedelic drugs is no exception. There is a thriving community that is made up of people who have spent real time and effort calculating just exactly how much of any given substance you might need to achieve certain effects. Obviously, this is not an exact science—different people react in different ways to various chemicals—but for those who are just starting out or are trying something new for the first time, consulting a database of other people's experiences is a good place to start. One information source that is held in high regard by fans of altered reality is *psychonautwiki.org*. Although the site is often maligned for encouraging its users to take drugs, in spite of its "for educational purposes only" disclaimer, it does take pains to inform researchers of the risks involved. Here is what it has to say on the subject of Datura: > "Datura is extremely dangerous and can directly cause severe injury or death. It is highly unpredictable, and its use is strongly linked to psychosis and death." If including the word *death* twice within the first two sentences isn't quite enough and you need a little more context, the site's fact sheet on heroin warns of the chance of a fatal overdose but doesn't actually use the word *death* at all. When an easily available—and in many places perfectly legal—substance is ranked as far more dangerous than heroin, and even the most extreme proponents of hallucinogens go out of their way to persuade people not to take it, you know you're dealing with something fairly horrendous. So, before we delve into the trip potential, let's have a look at just a few of the many, many physical health risks. Aside from the aforementioned death, Datura can cause: - Respiratory depression [suppression of the body's natural reflex to breathe] - Nausea - Physical fatigue - Muscle cramps - Increased heart rate - Increased blood pressure - Erectile dysfunction - Seizures Although these should really be enough to persuade someone that taking it is not actually a good idea, it is the psychological effects that seem to prevent people from taking it more than once. Datura is actually slightly chemically addictive, but there are only a few recorded instances of anybody actually becoming addicted, and these are strictly anecdotal. So, what does it do to you? After all, the main reason people indulge in hallucinogens is to experience a pleasant detachment from reality, complete with some pretty visuals. What can somebody who, for whatever reason, decided to ignore all the warnings and take Datura anyway expect to experience? ## Object Activation This one is pretty easy to infer from context but, just in case, the term "object activation" refers to ordinary objects such as cups, furniture, rugs, etc., appearing to move of their own accord. Sometimes, this can be fairly innocuous—such as your coffee cup appearing to tilt or to slide across the table on its own. In the case of Datura, however, these activations are often reported to be far more intense. Users have reported seeing doors open and close themselves, knives fly across the room, or, in the case of one particularly memorable account, a rug coming to life, sprouting claws, crawling across the room, and shredding the family dog. ## Shadow People The human brain is an incredibly complex system and doesn't always interpret visual data correctly. Even a perfectly sober, slightly tired person might occasionally glimpse a shadow in their peripheral vision, only to find that when they look properly, nothing is there. Now, imagine this happening to you—except that, when you do look properly, a fully formed black cut-out of a human being is standing a few feet away from you. If you're lucky, this shadow person won't do anything at all and will simply disappear after a few seconds. However, the actions of these perceived entities are only really limited by the scope of your own imagination, and a scared human mind is capable of imagining some pretty unsettling things. According to one account from an individual who claims to have spent several days under the influence of Datura: > "I was lying on my bed, trying to calm myself down, when I became aware of a shadowy face outside my window. When I turned on the light, the face disappeared, but as soon as I turned it off again it was back. I watched in horror as the face pushed itself through the glass and floated towards me before disappearing into my own chest." It is worth noting that shadow people are a fairly common occurrence when one experiments with hallucinogens, but in the majority of cases they either disappear when you look directly at them or at least remain stationary. Whilst this can happen when taking Datura, they are far more likely to become animated or appear to interact with the physical world. They aren't always simply vague humanoid shapes either. Although "shadow people" is the most commonly used description, they can take the shape of animals, orbs, or even simply disembodied limbs. ## Internal and External Hallucinations Internal hallucinations can best be described as waking dreams. Although the person who is under the influence can experience anything from mild visual distortions and interesting patterns through to the most horrific of nightmares, these hallucinations take place when the eyes are closed and are very similar to standard dreams. Sure, they can be unpleasant but, by and large, the individual is aware that this is something happening inside their heads. External hallucinations are somewhat different. Depending on the amount of stimulant that has been consumed, the things happening around—or in some cases *to*—the individual can feel very real indeed. ## Time Distortion Much like the visual effects where something that isn't actually there appears briefly in your peripheral vision, most of you will have experienced time distortion in one form or another. How many times have you been sat at work on a Friday afternoon watching the clock as it appears to take an inordinate amount of time to tick away the last ten minutes of your day? Conversely, how often have you sat down for a quick beer with a friend only to find that when you next look at your watch, five hours have passed? Our perception of time is relative to what is currently happening. Now, imagine taking this to the extreme. Imagine a chemically induced trip which, in reality, only lasted a few hours feeling to you like several days. If you're having a good time then this might not be a big deal—it may even be considered a benefit. However, as we are coming to realise, Datura rarely, if ever, works that way. One member of the *Into the Shadows* team who was foolish enough to experiment with this during their youth told us of a particularly vivid external hallucination reminiscent of the stereotypical movie scene in which somebody is tortured for information in an abandoned warehouse. Although they genuinely believed themselves to have been in near-constant agony for almost 48 hours, they had in fact simply been sitting in their desk chair with a bunch of keys in their back pocket for about 20 minutes. Although this story has a slightly amusing ring to it, in reality such experiences can be extremely psychologically damaging. Now that we have covered just a few of the reasons why you should never take Datura, it is perhaps time to talk a little bit about exactly what it is. Where does it come from? How would you recognize it? Does it, in spite of everything we have said so far, have any practical uses? There are nine plants that make up the Datura family, but the most common are *Datura inoxia* and *Datura stramonium*. If you were to come across one of these plants in the wild—a fairly common occurrence in places like Asia and Central America—the first thing you would probably notice is the flowers, which **iNaturalist.org** describes as having a pleasing odor, being shaped like trumpets, and being white or creamy in color. Although the leaves and stems of the plant do contain some mind-altering chemicals, the highest concentrations are found in these flowers and the seeds inside the fruit. These seeds especially, contain high amounts of scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine. Now, we appreciate that not everybody reading is a medical professional or a drug expert, so let's take a quick look at what all of these actually are. We shall start with scopolamine. This actually does have several medical uses but is most commonly prescribed to prevent motion sickness or as a nausea suppressant during surgery. However, it is usually only issued in very small amounts, and there are ongoing debates as to its complete safety. ## Hyoscyamine This too has many medical applications, some of which are covered in this brief extract from **MedlinePlus.gov**: > "Hyoscyamine is used to control symptoms associated with disorders of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. It works by decreasing the motion of the stomach and intestines and the secretion of stomach fluids, including acid. Hyoscyamine is also used in the treatment of bladder spasms, peptic ulcer disease, diverticulitis, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, cystitis, and pancreatitis." There are two important pieces of information to be aware of here. Firstly, all of the sources we checked specifically advised against taking scopolamine and hyoscyamine together. Secondly, the list of overdose symptoms includes: - Headache - Dizziness - Dry mouth - Trouble swallowing - Nausea - Vomiting - Blurred vision - Hot, dry skin If you take a look at the list of minor side effects caused by Datura, you will find each and every one of these in almost exactly the same order. Given that Datura seeds contain quite a lot of hyoscyamine, it is not unreasonable to assume that users are inadvertently overdosing while in pursuit of an altered reality. This is, of course, conjecture on our part—they are, after all, pretty common side effects. ## Atropine This is another prescription-only drug used to treat, among other things, insecticide and mushroom poisoning. As you may not be entirely surprised to hear at this point, it is highly recommended that you do not use it in conjunction with either of the others. The main reason that none of these drugs should be taken together is that they are all, to a greater or lesser degree, capable of either reducing production of or inhibiting the effects of a chemical called acetylcholine. As we have already thrown around quite a lot of medical terminology today, we'll keep this brief. Acetylcholine is essential for the correct functioning of the autonomic nervous system—the system responsible for everything that your body does automatically, such as digestion, the creation of tears, and bladder function. When your body does not have enough acetylcholine—perhaps because you have eaten some seeds containing three separate inhibitors—your body starts to experience many of the symptoms associated with Datura use, including vivid hallucinations and detachment from reality. Based on this information, it seems that we may have solved the case of Datura's rather brutal symptoms. If you remember way back at the beginning, we said that almost everybody who tries Datura only does so the once. However, outside of the most reckless thrill seekers there is at least one exception to this rule. For thousands of years, Datura has played a large part in various spiritual and religious rituals around the world. Many Native American tribes used—and, in some cases, still do use—Datura as part of a drink to be consumed in the male coming-of-age ceremony. The resultant visions are said to be messages from spirit guides that must be interpreted by the child in order for him to gain wisdom. Furthermore, there are shamans and medicine men who take Datura regularly, believing that the internal hallucinations it brings can do anything from helping to diagnose patients to allowing them to visit other spiritual planes or converse with the dead. Even these individuals, though, don't recommend its usage to the inexperienced, because there are just too many variables. The strength of the seeds can vary dramatically depending on the strain, the location, the weather that year, and when they are harvested, so even those people who have spent their entire lives studying the effects and dosage are not completely safe. We know that in other articles we have provided much more detail on how certain psychedelics can be prepared and used, but we will not be doing this today, simply because we cannot, in good conscience, be responsible for anyone trying Datura. Yes, such information can be found with a quick Google search, and it is completely legal in many countries, but the potential risks—both physical and psychological—are just not worth it for an almost guaranteed bad trip. **Please, don't try Datura.** ## Key Takeaways - Datura is a highly dangerous plant known for causing severe injury or death.,The plant induces vivid, often terrifying hallucinations, including moving objects and shadow people.,Datura's seeds contain chemicals that inhibit acetylcholine, leading to vivid hallucinations and detachment from reality.,The plant has been used in spiritual rituals but is not recommended for inexperienced users due to its unpredictability.,Datura is ranked as more dangerous than heroin, with extreme proponents of hallucinogens advising against its use. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Datura? Datura is a psychedelic plant known for causing only negative experiences. It is extremely dangerous and can directly cause severe injury or death. It is highly unpredictable and its use is strongly linked to psychosis and death. ### What are the physical health risks associated with Datura? Datura can cause respiratory depression, nausea, physical fatigue, muscle cramps, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, and seizures. ### What are the psychological effects of Datura? Datura is known for causing object activation, shadow people, internal and external hallucinations, and time distortion. These effects are often reported to be extremely unsettling and psychologically damaging. ### What are the common types of Datura plants? The most common types of Datura plants are Datura inoxia and Datura stramonium. These plants are known for their trumpet-shaped, white or creamy flowers and contain high concentrations of mind-altering chemicals in their flowers and seeds. ### What chemicals are found in Datura seeds? Datura seeds contain high amounts of scopolamine, hyoscyamine, and atropine. These chemicals are known to inhibit the effects of acetylcholine, leading to vivid hallucinations and detachment from reality. ### What are the medical uses of scopolamine? Scopolamine is commonly prescribed to prevent motion sickness or as a nausea suppressant during surgery. However, it is usually issued in very small amounts due to ongoing debates about its complete safety. ### What are the medical applications of hyoscyamine? Hyoscyamine is used to control symptoms associated with disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, bladder spasms, peptic ulcer disease, diverticulitis, colic, irritable bowel syndrome, cystitis, and pancreatitis. ### What is the role of Datura in spiritual and religious rituals? Datura has been used in various spiritual and religious rituals around the world for thousands of years. Many Native American tribes use it in male coming-of-age ceremonies, and shamans use it to diagnose patients and visit other spiritual planes. ### Why is Datura not recommended for inexperienced users? Datura is not recommended for inexperienced users because the strength of the seeds can vary dramatically depending on factors such as strain, location, weather, and harvest time. Even experienced users are not completely safe. ### What is the general advice regarding the use of Datura? The general advice is to avoid using Datura due to its high risks of physical and psychological harm. The potential risks are not worth the almost guaranteed bad trip. ## Sources - [Original Into the Shadows video: Datura: The Psychedelic Which Only Causes Bad Trips](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cevVQIzXKwk) - [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Medline_academy_image_4.jpg) by Ainstin / openverse, by-sa. ## Related Coverage