Skip to main content
Psychedex
Article

Datura Facts

Deliriant; Substituted tropane; Muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist

Description

Datura (Datura stramonium L., Solanaceae) — jimson weed, thorn apple — is a flowering plant whose seeds and leaves contain tropane alkaloids. Its primary psychoactive constituents are scopolamine and hyoscyamine, unrelated chemically to serotonergic psychedelics. These alkaloids block acetylcholine throughout the brain and body, collapsing cognition, perception, and autonomic regulation.[1]

Subjective effects include profound delirium, fully realistic hallucinations across all senses, dense amnesia, and complete loss of awareness that one is intoxicated. This is not a perceptual overlay — it is a total cognitive collapse in which hallucinations are indistinguishable from reality.[1]

Physical dependence is rare, but toxicity risk is extreme — the gap between a psychoactive dose and a lethal one is very narrow.[2] Alkaloid concentrations vary dramatically across plants, species, and plant parts, making dose prediction from raw material impossible.[3][4]

Dose and durationby route · individual sensitivity varies

Oral

No dose recorded for this route. The timings are not a dose guide.

Starts in 20 – 120 minLasts not recorded

Body and dependence

Acute toxicity
Critical
Chronic toxicity
High
Physical dependence
Negligible
Psychological dependence
Negligible
Withdrawal
None recorded
Compulsive redosing
Negligible

Tolerance

Builds
Moderate
Fully resets after
10 days
Carries over to
atropine; scopolamine (pharmaceutical); diphenhydramine; other muscarinic antagonists

Effectslikely at a common dose

Perception
Visual acuity suppression; Spatial disorientation; +19 possible, including Visual haze / noise, Double vision, Vestibular distortion
Body
Constipation; Dehydration sensation; Temperature dysregulation; Motor control impairment; Pupil dilation; Abnormal heartbeat; Dry mouth; +20 possible, including Dizziness, Heart rate perception changes, Nausea
Thinking
Focus suppression; Information processing suppression; Memory suppression; Suggestibility enhancement; Confusion; Thought disorganization; Decision impairment; Cognitive impairment; +8 possible, including Cognitive dysphoria, Language suppression, Delusions of sobriety
Feeling
Anxiety; Dysphoria; +5 possible, including Paranoia, Depression, Emotional lability
Self
none likely · 8 possible, including Derealization, Communication suppression, Social disconnection
Time
Temporal disorientation; +1 possible

Who shouldn't take it

Absolute
Tachyarrhythmia; Myasthenia gravis; Urinary obstruction / BPH; Pregnancy; Angle-closure glaucoma; Paralytic ileus
Relative
Cardiovascular disease; Psychiatric illness (psychosis history); Hepatic impairment; Elderly individuals; Pediatric populations; Concurrent anticholinergic medications

Combinations60 recorded

Dangerous (18)
Amphetamines; Antihistamines; Antipsychotics; Atypical antipsychotics; Buprenorphine, Kratom; GHB, GBL; MDMA, MDA; Naltrexone; Opioids; Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine; GHB, Baclofen; Ibogaine; Ketamine, DXM, PCP; Local anesthetics; NDRIs (Wellbutrin); Salvia, Ibogaine; SSRIs; Stimulants
Caution (35)
See full page: psychedex.org/substances/datura
Not graded (7)
Not listed never means safe.

Seek help immediately if

Deliriants are genuinely dangerous — treat any strong reaction as a medical emergency.

  • True delirium — confused, disoriented, doesn't know what's real or recognize people/danger
  • Vivid, frightening hallucinations; agitation or aggression
  • Hot, flushed, dry skin and high body temperature
  • Dilated pupils; blurred vision
  • Fast heartbeat; inability to urinate
  • Seizures; unconsciousness

What to do

  1. Call emergency services — deliriant poisoning (especially datura / belladonna) can be life-threatening
  2. Keep them physically safe — they may not know what they're doing and can badly injure themselves; remove hazards and stay with them
  3. Do not leave them alone; do not try to reason them out of it — they are delirious
  4. If overheating, cool the body
  5. Recovery position if drowsy, vomiting, or unconscious; be ready for rescue breaths / CPR

Deliriant effects are long (many hours to more than a day) and the person is not safe or in control throughout. The main dangers are self-injury during delirium, overheating, and — for potent anticholinergics like datura — cardiac and central-nervous-system toxicity. Medical monitoring is often needed.

988 Suicide & Crisis LifelineFireside Project: 62-FIRESIDE

Version r2 · Not medical advice

References

  1. [1]
    ^abSharma M, Dhaliwal I, Rana K, Delta AK, Kaushik P (2021) Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology of Datura Species—A Review — Antioxidants doi:10.3390/antiox10081291
  2. [2]
    ^Rodgers GC, Von Kanel RL (1993) Conservative treatment of jimsonweed ingestion — Veterinary and Human Toxicology PMID:8434447
  3. [3]
    ^Jakabová S, Vincze L, Farkas A, Kilár F, Boros B, Felinger A (2012) Determination of tropane alkaloids atropine and scopolamine by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry in plant organs of Datura species — Journal of Chromatography A doi:10.1016/j.chroma.2012.02.036
  4. [4]
    ^Boumba VA, Mitselou A, Vougiouklakis T (2004) Fatal poisoning from ingestion of Datura stramonium seeds — Veterinary and Human Toxicology PMID:15080209
Print version
Report an issue