SEED PROBLEM HAS ANTI-DOPING MESSAGE

Incidents involving the hospitalisation of George Elliot Secondary students
ingesting the indigenous seed datura have scared other students straight.

"I think it scared some people. But I don't know much about it," said a
Grade 8 GESS student.

"It's probably made people more afraid of taking anything," agreed another
student who also did not try the seeds, which have hallucinogenic properties.

"I'm terrified of doing any other drugs," said a third student during the
lunch break.

GESS Principal Mike Proch hopes to use the hospitalised student's
experiences with the seeds as a way of keeping others from making the same
mistake. He would like to have the students talk with classes about their
trip to the hospital so their peers will realise what an unpleasant
experience eating the seeds can be.

"We want to be pro-active. And we realise it has to happen in a timely
manner," said Proch.

There is no shortage of rumours circulating about the plant, known as
datura stamonium, among the student population. "I heard that you can eat
200 (seeds), but those kids ate 500," said a Grade 8 male.

A Grade 10 male reported he took several hundred seeds and suffered some
rather negative effects. "I took a few hundred. I felt real dizzy and
hallucinated. My eyes were blurry and it was hard seeing.

"I'm never taking them again."

His friend, also in Grade 10, took a smaller dose and suffered fewer
symptoms. "I took about 60 of them. Nothing happened like that. I had a
dream and when I woke up, I thought it was real. I dreamed there were
friends over at my home, but when I woke up, nobody was there."

Some students hanging out in the linear park behind the Winfield Shopping
Centre say the seeds were given to them by other students who professed the
seeds were similar to magic mushrooms which also grow naturally in British
Columbia.

But there are other reports of students trying to pedal the dangerous seeds
to their peers. "They're like little balls in Beasley Park. People were
bringing them to the skateboard park and trying to sell them," said a Grade
8 male.

"This girl took some and was digging in people's pockets for her backpack,"
he added.

Datura is also referred to as thorn apple, locoweed, Jimson weed and
angel's trumpet. Some severe symptoms include increased heart rate,
vomiting, coma, and respiratory failure.

George Elliot Secondary is part of a drug-free zone. If caught possessing
illegal drugs within the zone can result in the courts doubling the
punishment. Datura is not an illegal drug, but both the RCMP and GESS
administration warn those caught eating or especially selling the seeds
will be dealt with harshly.