To produce intoxication, the leaves of the plant are either eaten or smoked as a cigarette. Intoxication on these substances can produce euphoria, incoordination, confusion, hallucinations, and visual distortions. Scopolamine and atropine are not widely used today, primarily because of their toxic side effects. The toxicity of these two drugs has been well known throughout history. Atropine was frequently the drug of choice for poisonings during the Middle Ages.
Toxicity seems to be related to the level of tolerance developed for the effects of the drug.
Apparently, tolerance develops only for the effects of the drug, and not for the toxic dose level. Another plant rich in intoxicating alkaloids is the prickly or Mexican poppy. From the same family as the opium poppy, this legal poppy gets its name from the resemblance of its flower to the now illegal variety. Found generally in the South, some of its twelve species reach all the way to Canada. Some accidental poisonings have been known to be caused by this plant.