Sept. 20, 1999

Two West Jordan teenagers almost died in a local hospital after drinking tea made from Jimson weed.

They're among the latest in a series of incidents over the past three days involving deadly tea parties.

Science Specialist Ed Yeates reports from a Salt Lake neighborhood where a lot of this stuff is found.

You don't have to look far to find the native plant. It's called Jimson.

Too many teens are breaking these pods open, eating the seeds inside, or brewing the stuff as a tea.

But two teenagers released from the hospital this weekend say it isn't worth it.

Seventeen-year-old Justin Bringhurst and 15-year-old Cody Wood are recuperating at home after a near-fatal tea party with friends.

Two teenagers in the group had brewed up a concoction of Jimson weed seeds. Three ended up in Jordan Valley Hospital. Justin and Cody were admitted to ICU in critical condition.

Justin Bringhurst: "It was unlike any high I've ever felt. It was like scary, and I thought I was going to die. I just wanted to go to sleep and hope it would go away. But I kept collapsing. I couldn't make it to my room."

Justin's sister found him shortly after that. She says her brother was going downhill rapidly.

Maurie Morris, Justin's Sister: "I thought he was going to die. I didn't know what to do to help him. It's the scariest thing that's ever happened to me in my life."

Cody Wood said most of the teens in the group would not drink the tea, and advised both he and Justin to leave it alone.

Cody Wood: "Don't do it. That's what people told me, don't do it, it will kill you. BUt I thought if they made it right it wouldn't do anything. But it came pretty close to killing me."

Justin and Cody are not alone. Another teenager - allegedly hallucinating - wandered away from the camp site east of Bountiful over the weekend.

The tea parties have become sort of a fad. But Justin says the experience has turned him off everything -- all drugs - even alcohol.

Justin: "Don't do any drugs. Just find other ways to have fun. It's just not worth it-- came too close to dying."

Cody: "Not to do it. Listen to people if they say not to do it."