Opinions - Ethics of Datura suppliers??

[sunyata]

There are no known dosages for Datura and Brugmansia. Their alkaloid content varies from place to place and from plant to plant.

[ProtectedByTheGods]

My opinion on this:
I think it is okay to sell Datura seeds and plants as what they really are:
ornamental plants.

But if someone is selling dried leaves/flowers/seeds in his webshop right next
to magic mushrooms and herbal extacy, now that I consider really unethical
and a ripoff too, because that stuff just grows everywhere, so you COULD
simply pick some IF you wanted to trip on that stuff. Not that anyone
should want to experience that stuff (again) though.

It should not be made illegal, I'm totally against making ANY natural plant illegal,
but I would HATE to see it advertised on some smartshop as some way to get high to some kids
who feel the urge to experiment.

[Kpinman]

Of course datura should be openly sold. There are many reasons to buy seeds besides eating them. They do produce beautiful and complex geometric flowers.

Besides, even if seeds were not sold online, the plant is easy enough to find in pretty much every state in the US.

[sunyata]

Most seeds sold for cultivation are not in the same quantities that ethno vendors sell them in.

I agree that the seeds should be available for cultivation, I think many horticulturalists would strongly oppose any law against it.
But selling leaves and flowers that are obviously for consumption is another matter, they might as well be selling castor seeds. They don't belong in ethnoshops anymore than they do in foodstores.

Personally, I don't see that the profit can match the risk here, they(the vendors) will have few returning customers and the ones that do return might be in the form of some heavy lawsuits and massive negative publicity.
Just think about the negative publicity for Salvia, and that's a trip that most people come back from without lasting side-effects.
If some mother were to bring her now-retarded-from-deadly-nightshade-use son in front of the TV cameras with him slobbering and mumbling and her saying "Look what they did to my little boy!", our now legal sources for other, less harmful ethnobotanicals might become extinct.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Exactly! Good post!

[xekko]

I think anyone purchasing Datura online is aware of the dangers involved. But I think suppliers should still definitely give the facts of it to protect the unaware.

[fractalhaze]

There is no reason for suppliers to stop selling datura or other nightshade/tropane plants. First of all, mainstream seed suppliers also sell these, as they have horticultural interest due to the unusual-looking flowers and seedpods. Second, any ethnobotanical specialty website selling these only sells a tiny handful of sales in a year - it is not a popular item at all! Third, most who do buy intend to grow them, and as Brugmansia Brujo said above, they can also be smoked to pleasant and safe effect.

[sunyata]

Originally Posted by fractalhaze

There is no reason for suppliers to stop selling datura or other nightshade/tropane plants. First of all, mainstream seed suppliers also sell these, as they have horticultural interest due to the unusual-looking flowers and seedpods. Second, any ethnobotanical specialty website selling these only sells a tiny handful of sales in a year - it is not a popular item at all! Third, most who do buy intend to grow them, and as Brugmansia Brujo said above, they can also be smoked to pleasant and safe effect.

Actually, you are listing three of the reasons why they should stop selling them:
1. They are allready sold by ordinary suppliers, only in smaller quantities, not by the ounce.
2. There is little profit.
3. Most who buy them get what they need from an ordinary seed supplier.

There is also the matter of association, a gardener buying seeds from a horticultural supplier would not eat an ornamental plant like that.
But what about the person who bought it along with his Kratom?

[Gappa]

SWIM found his growing wild close to Washington DC USA. SWIM took approx 200 seeds of Jimson/Datura and would not suggest ANYONE even trying it. SWIM agrees with most of you all Cannabis should be legal and shit that is dangerous such as datura should be outlawed. Our government is sooooo twisted on their idealisims it's just fucked up!

[100mg Methylphenidate]

I honestly think if you're dumb enough to not use the internet to learn stuff, and you go out and die or have the worst time of your life on datura, it's your own fault. Yes, it's a shame. It would be sad to see your friend or somebody die.

But I can't even describe how many times swim has tried to keep his friends from mixing certain pills or explaining the dangers of high blood pressure to cokeheads or telling somebody not to mix tylenol with alcohol, but guess what? They don't believe you. They don't care. They will do it anyway. And if they die, well, I'll get over it. It's their own fault.

I don't bother trying anymore. Really. If swims friends get drugs through him and he cares about them, sure, he'll make sure they don't do retarded shit. The friends he really cares about. But people in general really don't care. They go by the "all drugs are bad" policy and they're "all damaging their body in one way or another" and they're going to die because of it.

It's not that complicated, not that hard, and not that time consuming to do a little research and find out what doses are safe, read some erowid reports, find out what can't be mixed with each drug, and find out if it's even a reasonable idea to do the drug anyway. It's amazing that somebody would be willing to do the research on google and find places that sell datura, but they just take it without reading a couple reports or something first. At least that way you know if you're getting something good or not! Why not just throw all your money away to every spam ad and pop up you see online if you're that dumb?

Suppliers: They COULD post the dangers of taking the plant etc. But I think it might look bad for them if they post anything about taking it at all, since they specifically sell it 'not for human consumption.' Sorta like how salvia dealers got in trouble because they 'knew people were going to take it.' Plus, like I said, people don't care anyway. And if people care about their own lives so much, they should just do a little research first.

Although, swim has some friends who are honestly too dumb to comprehend the science and just plain unwilling to sit at a computer and read that long...I guess "survival of the fittest" applies sometimes.

Not that swim or I are geniuses by any means. But at least swim cares about his own life when he does drugs, and I care about the lives of my friends including swim. Anybody who isn't a true moron can do a google search on datura and find out all sorts of nasty things about it. Why buy something if you don't know what it is?

Reputation Comments on this post:

Wise words in this post, pleasure to read

[Kada]

i don't like the idea of them being sold on "headshop" type sties as legal highs or some such thing. along side klip dagga and lotus flowers, just seems wrong. i agree peopel should do research, but in a way if they buy a product form a website and the site makes these claims, i think a large percent of the population will think the website who is selling it has knowledge and experience in what tehy are selling, and if they say its good for getting high, then it must be. when i go buy pain from teh paint store, i assume the folks there know their shit and i lay out my situation and they set me up. now is it my fault the paint faded in 2 months?

im all for research and all taht jazz, but i am against false advertising and no warnings. people give faith blindly, perhaps too much, but this is not punishable by death....

I can go buy castor beans as well to grow in my garden...tehse things are a billion time smore dealy than any datura. but they are also used to make cooking oil (castor oil). so if joe blow bought some castor oil at the supermarket tehn wern to XX herb shop online and saw castor seeds and the description read "Used commercially to make castor oil" without warning....buys them attempts to make an oil and kills his family...

perhaps over the top, but similar thing in my mind. dangerous goods should be marked as such, jsut liek our foods must be labeled with their ingredients and any warnings. if cigarettes require warnings, so should anything like dry datura leaves.

a business advertising clearly dangerous goods without warnings and clearly trying to push them on people looking for a high, should probably be shut down before they kill people. even dumb, at least most, have the right to live through their mistakes.

my 2 cents.