Mozambique: Manica sounds ‘red alert’ as Angel’s Trumpet endangers its young ones

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Mozambique: Manica sounds ‘red alert’ as Angel’s Trumpet endangers its young ones

6:23 CAT | 11 Jun 2024

File photo: DW

Young people in Manica province, Mozambique, are consuming Angel’s Trumpet as a recreational substance, leaving them with mental disorders that last for several days.

Experts warn of the dangers of the plant, whose toxicity surpasses that of some drugs.

Angel’s Trumpet is a highly toxic plant. Some young people in Manica province are boiling it to make a tea they then consume.

Consequences can include mental disorders, delirium and tachycardia, among others.

“I drank a glass. I got home and I didn’t recognize myself anymore,” one young man told DW. “Then I went to the river to take a bath and I didn’t know what was happening to me.”

The father of another teenager who also consumed the plant calls on health authorities to investigate the plant and quickly present strategies for its elimination, considering the drama his son went through.

“It is a very dangerous plant. Measures must be taken to eliminate this plant in communities,” he warned.

Elimination of the plant in the region

Abu Álvaro Faz-bem, chief in the area where the incident occurred, in the city of Chimoio, says he took action as soon as the young people’s families informed him of the incident.

“We held a meeting with the community to destroy the plants. We identified some plants and destroyed them, a campaign which is ongoing. We appeal to young people not to consume drugs in any way. But the Trumpet plant is worse than many other drugs. Anyone identifying one such plant must alert local structures to destroy it,” he warned.

Angelstr.dw_ — *Abu Álvaro Faz-bem, area manager in the city of Chimoio*

Angel’s Trumpet is used in traditional medicine to treat, for example, gastrointestinal disorders. But Cândida Mariza das Dores, a research biologist in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology, warns that this is an extremely dangerous plant.

“This plant does cause hallucinations,” she explains. “It is an extremely poisonous plant. Just smelling the leaves can cause complications, such as paralysis. For example, you can smell it now, go home and start to feel paralysis and, if you go to sleep, you can’t speak, you can’t move.”

Nausea, vomiting and respiratory problems are other possible side effects.

Source: Deutsche Welle