Editing Datura (section)

==Psychoactive use==
In ''Pharmacology and Abuse of Cocaine, Amphetamines, Ecstasy and Related Designer Drugs'', Freye asserts, "Few substances have received as many severely negative recreational experience reports as has ''Datura''."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fatur |first1=Karsten |title=Peculiar plants and fantastic fungi: An ethnobotanical study of the use of hallucinogenic plants and mushrooms in Slovenia |journal=PLOS ONE |date=7 January 2021 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=e0245022 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0245022 |pmid=33412556 |pmc=7790546 |bibcode=2021PLoSO..1645022F |doi-access=free }}</ref> The overwhelming majority of those who describe their use of ''Datura'' find their experiences extremely unpleasant ─ both mentally and often physically.<ref name="Freye-2009" /> However, anthropologists have found that indigenous groups, with a great deal of experience with and detailed knowledge of ''Datura'', have been known to use ''Datura'' spiritually (including the [[Navajo]] and especially the [[Havasupai]]).<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.3736/jintegrmed2013016|pmid=23506688|title=A review on the pharmacological and toxicological aspects of ''Datura stramonium'' L|journal=Journal of Integrative Medicine|volume=11|issue=2|pages=73–9|year=2013|last1=Gaire|first1=Bhakta Prasad|last2=Subedi|first2=Lalita}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| title=Stairways to Heaven: Drugs in American Religious History| first=Robert C| last=Fuller| year=2000| page=[https://archive.org/details/stairwaystoheave00full/page/32 32]| isbn=0-8133-6612-7| publisher=Basic Books| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/stairwaystoheave00full/page/32}}</ref> Adequate knowledge of ''Datura''{{'s}} properties is necessary to facilitate a safe experience.<ref name="Preissel-2002" /> The ancient inhabitants of what became central and southern [[California]] used to ingest ''Datura'' to "commune with [[deities]] through [[Vision (spirituality)|visions]]".<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Lopez Austin A, Lopez Lujan L |title=Mexico's Indigenous Past |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-8061-3723-0 |page=22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzB4rfXObCwC&pg=PA22}}</ref> The [[Southern Paiute]] believe ''Datura'' can [[Divination|help locate missing objects]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Southern Paiute Shamanism |first1=Isabel T. |last1=Kelly |year=1939 |url=http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/ucar002-005.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107022113/http://digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu/anthpubs/ucb/text/ucar002-005.pdf |archive-date=2017-11-07 |url-status=live }}</ref> In ancient Mexico, ''Datura'' also played an important role in the [[Aztec religion|religion of the Aztecs]] and the practices of their [[medicine men]] and [[necromancer]]s.<ref name="Safford-1916">{{cite book |last1=Safford |first1=William |title=Narcotic Plants and Stimulants of the Ancient Americans |date=1916 |publisher=Economic Botanist |location=United States |pages=405–406 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BJXdX3IEtycC&q=datura+necromancy&pg=PA405}}</ref> It was reportedly used by the Aztecs for [[ritual sacrifice]] and malevolent purposes as well.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carod-Artal |first1=F.J. |title=Alucinógenos en las culturas precolombinas mesoamericanas |trans-title=Hallucinogenic drugs in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures |language=es |journal=Neurología |date=January 2015 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=42–49 |doi=10.1016/j.nrl.2011.07.003 |pmid=21893367 |doi-access= }}</ref> In modern-day [[Mexico]], some datura species are still used for sorcery and other [[occult]] practices, mostly in the southern region of [[Veracruz]], specifically in the city of [[Catemaco#The "witches" of Catemaco|Catemaco]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Endredy |first1=James |title=The Flying Witches of Veracruz: A Shaman's True Story of Indigenous Witchcraft, Devil's Weed, and Trance Healing in Aztec Brujeria |date=2011 |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |isbn=978-0-7387-3114-8 }}{{page needed|date=October 2021}}</ref><ref name="Budd-2002">{{cite news  |author=Jim Budd|title= Viajando Ligero/ El misterioso Catemaco |newspaper=Reforma |location=Mexico City |date=27 October 2002 |page=5 }}</ref>

[[Bernardino de Sahagún]], in around 1569, called attention to ''Datura'' in these words: 
"It is administered in potions in order to cause harm to those who are objects of hatred. Those who eat it have visions of fearful things. Magicians or those who wish to harm someone administer it in food or drink. This herb is medicinal and its seed is used as a remedy for gout, ground up and applied to the part affected."<ref name="Safford-1916"/>

[[Christian Rätsch]] has said, "A mild dosage produces medicinal and healing effects, a moderate dosage produces aphrodisiac effects, and high dosages are used for shamanic purposes". [[Wade Davis (anthropologist)|Wade Davis]], an [[ethnobotanist]], also lists it as an essential ingredient of [[Haitian Vodou|Haitian]] [[Zombie#Folk beliefs|zombie potion]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Dictionary of Hallucations |location=Oradell, NJ. |publisher=Springer |year=2010|page=127}}</ref> In [[Western culture]], the same species (''[[Datura stramonium]]'') has been said to have been commonly used by [[Witchcraft|witches]] as an ingredient for their [[flying ointment]]s and was regularly included in detailed recipes of [[Magic (supernatural)|magical]] ointments dating back as far as the [[early modern period]], predominately in [[New England]] and [[Western Europe#CIA classification|Western Europe]].<ref name="Hansen-1978"/><ref name="Schultes-1979"/><ref name="Kuklin-1999">{{cite book | last = Kuklin | first = Alexander | title = How Do Witches Fly?| publisher = DNA Press |date=February 1999 | isbn = 0-9664027-0-7 }}</ref> During the [[Witch trials in the early modern period|anti-witchcraft hysteria of colonial times]] it was considered unlucky or inappropriate to grow ''D. stramonium'' in one's garden due to its supposed reputation for aiding in [[incantations]].<ref name="Grieve-1971">{{cite book|author=Grieve, Maud|title=A Modern Herbal: The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folk-lore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs, & Trees with All Their Modern Scientific Uses, Volume 2|publisher=Dover Publications|year=1971|isbn=978-0-486-22799-3|page=804|url=https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/thorna12.html#des|archive-date=6 May 2023|access-date=20 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230506165310/https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/t/thorna12.html#des|url-status=live}}</ref>