BANNING A BREW

Some people who've experimented with angel's trumpet as a way to get high
have learned the hard way that one of the tropical plant's other common
names -- devil's weed -- is more apt.

When ingested, angel's trumpet can cause fever, blurred vision and urine
retention. Three Kenner teenagers and two Destrehan teens were hospitalized
after drinking angel's trumpet concoctions. In Florida, a youth died from
its effects.

The plant's hallucinogenic properties are no less dangerous. One of the
Kenner teens was poised to jump off a roof while under its influence;
another tried to take a bite out of his arm. And in Germany, a young man
seriously mutilated himself with garden shears while high on the substance.

It shouldn't be legal to manufacture, use or sell such a dangerous
substance, and in Kenner and New Orleans, at least, it's now a misdemeanor.
The Kenner City Council adopted an ordinance last month that makes it
illegal to consume or sell concoctions containing the plant. The New
Orleans City Council voted last week to ban the manufacture or sale of
compounds made from the plant.

Neither ordinance bans the buying, selling or possession of the plant
itself, and that's as it should be. The angel's trumpet has a legitimate
use in landscaping, and it's hardly the only thing growing in people's
gardens that could be dangerous if misused.

But people who turn this flowering plant into a drug should face
consequences, and not only in New Orleans and Kenner. Officials in both
places say that a state law is needed, and they're right.

This kind of dangerous trend would be better addressed by a statewide law
than by piecemeal banning of the substance by local governments that may
not learn about angel's trumpet until a tragedy happens in their backyard.

A state law that bans the use, manufacture and sale of angel's trumpet
concoctions could keep it out of the hands of someone's son or daughter.
And it would ensure that those who seek to profit from this noxious brew
will face appropriate punishment.