Five Fayetteville High School students ingested jimson weed during the school day, causing three of them to be hospitalized.  The three students were kept overnight, two of them in intensive care.  They were improving Tuesday.

According to the National Institute of Health, jimson weed is a poisonous plant that grows throughout the U.S.  Jimson weed poisoning occurs when someone sucks the juice or eats the seeds from this plant.  You can also be poisoned by drinking tee made from the leaves.  Its street names are thronapple, stinkweed, and locoweed.  It is most often used by young people unfamiliar with its reputation and unprepared for its side effects, which include dry mouth, dilated pupils, high temperature, blurred vision, confusion, euphoria, and delirium.  In some cases, it can be fatal. 

Alan Wilbourn is the Public Information Officer for the Fayetteville Public Schools he hopes the negative effects of the 5 students while help others stay away, saying, “I think what the other students witnessed happening at school yesterday with their peers becoming delirious and very upset, and lots of vomiting, and those kind of things, it doesn't look like a whole lot of fun.”

Nancy Hairston is a mother of two, one is a student at FHS, she said, “Well, it's very concerning as a parent.  Because if they're trying this, they're going to be trying more, and you have to wonder about what is driving them to do that, and if they really understand what the risks are."

Hairston added that her daughter should stay away from Jimson after seeing those effects on Monday, “I think it was an eye opener for her.  I think it really hit home, it was a very violent reaction.  The kids had to stay in the class, and it was something that, this is not fun and games, this is serious."

Hairston’s younger daughter is in junior high and says she knows jimson use is going on, she answered the question, why, “For one, I would say peer pressure from other students that have done it before, or have tried something like it.  Or, I would say, just pretty much they have no life, and just want to do something fun."

Sarah King works at the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks and knows the use of Jimson has to be on purpose, “There's no danger of folks just accidentally getting poisoned by jimson weed, this is something that's intentional.  You really do need to be careful with plants, you know, don't eat things that aren't your vegetables."

The Fayetteville School District has called and left messages for parents warning them of jimson.