A Renfrew, Ont., hardware store has pulled seeds of a flowering vine called morning glory from its shelves over concerns young people have been snatching up the packets to get high.

Renfrew OPP are warning parents to be on the lookout for the seeds after Scott & Sons Hardware store in Renfrew reported it sold "an abundance" of them last week, mostly to teens and young adults.

Morning glory seeds can cause hallucinations when ingested. (Youtube/Midwest Gardener) The seeds contain LSA, a milder form of LSD, and can cause people to hallucinate when ingested in large quantities.

Store manager Jeff Scott said his shop sold about 25 packets of the seeds over "two or three" days, and that the store normally wouldn't sell any of the $1.89 gardening packets in February.

Scott told CBC News he became aware of the issue after a concerned parent phoned the store to tell him about the practice.

An employee confirmed all the customers who bought the morning glory seeds were teenagers and young adults.

"This is strange this time of year, so I looked further into morning glory seeds. We went online, and then we found out it can be used for other purposes that we … weren't too pleased with, so we notified the Renfrew OPP, and we pulled them off the shelf at this time," Scott said.

'They may put themselves in danger'

The seeds can be ingested or steeped in water to make tea in order to get a high, according to Renfrew OPP Const. Janice Sawbridge.

"I think young people may feel that a seed is a natural product, so maybe they think that's safer than consuming illegal drugs. But our concern is the fact that it causes hallucinations. And then, you know, they may put themselves in danger … something bad may happen when they're hallucinating," said Sawbridge.

"It can also cause extreme nausea — ingesting the seeds — because there's an outer coating on the seeds, apparently, that can cause extreme nauseousness," she said.

Sawbridge said so far she's not aware of any other reports of stores in the area selling an abundance of morning glory seeds.

Neither Ottawa police nor Ottawa Public Health have received reports of people in this city abusing the seeds.