French Youth Turn to Smoking Hydrangea Flowers for a High

http://www.albion-prints.com/

Hydrangeas, perennial flowering shrub found in many private and public gardens, are being stolen by recreational drug users in France. Personally they don't hold much appeal for me horticulturally; I find them old fashioned and uninteresting. But little did I know about their hallucinogenic properties. 

It's been reported that gangs of kids are indiscriminately lobbing off flowers from gardens private and public with the intention of drying the petals which then are mixed with tobacco for a flowery blunt. 

Botanists and pharmacists confirm that the smoking the flowers induce a similar high from that of THC, but (this is a big BUT) the resulting smoke also contains hydrogen cyanide. 

I am quoting the Guardian here:

"'The secondary effects of it are very bad for the health,' Hostettmann told Le Matin newspaper last year. He said the flowers could provoke stomach and respiratory problems, speed up the heart, cause dizzy spells and, if consumed in large quantities, produce hydrogen cyanide (also known as prussic acid), the base of Zyklon B, the poison gas used in the Nazi death chambers, causing a slow and painful death."

Yikes! 

Economic troubles are forcing people to turn to cheaper alternatives for intoxication. And my position is that the desire for intoxicants or mind-altering experiences is human, it has been and it always will be"; it is neither criminal (although stealing is) or pathological. 

Here is the link again:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/06/high-danger-hydrangea-french-police-hunt-gang