Local teens ingest plant seeds to get high

May 4, 2016 5:43 pm

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

Plant seeds have been discovered at the Seekonk High School, the fear is that teens will ingest them to get high.

"how did it occur to anyone to do something like that?"says one concerned Seekonk resident.

Blue morning glory, sleepy grass and Hawaiian baby woodrose are among the seeds students are taking. The Seekonk School Superintendent Arlene Bosco, says when ingesting these seeds it can give off a high similar to that of LSD. Bosco says the issue of seed ingestion came to her attention last week after students in a neighboring school district were hospitalized after taking the seeds.

"Personally I think it is sickening I don’t believe in drugs in any shape or form,"adds another concerned Seekonk resident.

Not only is this concerning to parents and community members, but also to gardeners like Donna Dawe who is a big fan of growing morning glory in her garden. Home depot in somerset has agreed to remove the seeds from their shelves for the time being.

"It’s a shame that they have to come off the shelves because of that. But its just there is so much coming off the shelves with kids today you know, it’s really sad," says Dawe.

"We’ve become a society where we try to think of new and different ways to circumvent the law and become impaired,"says Seekonk Police Chief Craig Mace.

Chief Mace says never the less this is concerning, and feels parents need to be aware of this trend.

"My day in age parents looked out for people using drugs or alcohol. We’ve gotten to the point where parents have to keep an eye on social media, internet use, still drugs and alcohol, but now these new ways to become impaired."