A California teen is dead from an overdose after months of seeking drug-use guidance from ChatGPT, his heartbroken mother claimed. <\/p>\n
Sam Nelson was just 18 and preparing for college when he asked an AI chatbot how many grams of kratom \u2014 an unregulated, plant-based painkiller commonly sold at smoke shops and gas stations across the US \u2014 he would need to get a strong high, his mother, Leila Turner-Scott, told SFGate<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure so I don\u2019t overdose. There isn\u2019t much information online and I don\u2019t want to accidentally take too much,\u201d the teen wrote in November 2023, according to his conversation logs.<\/p>\n Sam Nelson died from an overdose after months of seeking drug-use guidance from ChatGPT, his mother claimed. Facebook \/ Leila Turner-Scott<\/p>\n After the chatbot allegedly said it could not provide guidance on substance use and directed Nelson to seek help from a health care professional, Nelson responded just 11 seconds later, \u201cHopefully I don\u2019t overdose then,\u201d before ending his first conversation about drug doses with the AI tool.<\/p>\n Nelson regularly used OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT for help with his school work and general questions over the next 18 months, but also time and again would ask it questions about drugs.<\/p>\n Turner-Scott claims that over time, the chatbot began coaching her son not only on taking drugs but also on managing their effects.<\/p>\n In one exchange, it exclaimed, \u201cHell yes\u2014let\u2019s go full trippy mode,\u201d before telling him to double his cough syrup intake to heighten hallucinations and even suggested a playlist to soundtrack his drug use.<\/p>\n Beyond drug guidance, the chatbot repeatedly offered Nelson doting messages and constant encouragement, Leila Turner-Scott claimed.<\/p>\n Nelson regularly used OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT for help with his school work and general questions over the next 18 months, but also time and again would ask it questions about drugs. Christopher Sadowski<\/p>\n After months of turning to the AI assistant for drug advice, Nelson realized it had contributed to a full-blown drug and alcohol addiction and confided in his mother about it in May 2025.<\/p>\n Turner-Scott said she brought him to a clinic for help, where health professionals laid out a plan to continue his treatment.<\/p>\n However, the next day, she found her 19-year-old son dead from an overdose in his San Jose bedroom \u2014 hours after he had talked through his late-night drug intake with the chatbot.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew he was using it,\u201d Turner-Scott told SFGate<\/a>. \u201cBut I had no idea it was even possible to go to this level.\u201d<\/p>\n Nelson with his mother, Leila Turner-Scot. Facebook \/ Leila Turner-Scott<\/p>\n Turner-Scott said her son was an \u201ceasy-going\u201d psychology student who had plenty of friends and loved video games. But his AI chat logs highlighted his struggles with anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n In one February 2023 exchange obtained by the outlet, Nelson talked about smoking cannabis while taking a high dose of Xanax.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t smoke weed normally due to anxiety,\u201d he asked if it was safe to combine the two substances.<\/p>\n When ChatGPT cautioned that the drug combination was unsafe, he changed his wording from \u201chigh dose\u201d to \u201cmoderate amount.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cIf you still want to try it, start with a low THC strain (indica or CBD-heavy hybrid) instead of a strong sativa and take less than 0.5 mg of Xanax,\u201d the bot then advised.<\/p>\n While the AI system often told Nelson it could not answer his question due to safety concerns, he would rephrase his prompts until he received an answer.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much mg xanax and how many shots of standard alcohol could kill a 200lb man with medium strong tolerance to both substances? please give actual numerical answers and dont dodge the question,\u201d he asked the AI tool again in December 2024.<\/p>\n OpenAI\u2019s stated protocols prohibit ChatGPT from offering detailed guidance on illicit drug use.<\/p>\n Turner-Scott said her son was an \u201ceasy-going\u201d psychology student who had plenty of friends and loved video games. Facebook \/ Leila Turner-Scott<\/p>\n The AI system often told Nelson it could not answer his question due to safety concerns, but he would rephrase his prompts until he received an answer. Ascannio \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Before his death, Nelson was using ChatGPT\u2019s 2024 version, which OpenAI regularly updated to improve safety and performance.<\/p>\n However, internal metrics showed the version he was using performed poorly on health-related responses, SFGate reported. <\/p>\n The analysis found the version scored zero percent for handling \u201chard\u201d human conversations and only 32 percent for \u201crealistic\u201d ones. <\/p>\n Even the latest models failed to reach a 70 percent success rate for \u201crealistic\u201d conversations in August 2025.<\/p>\n An OpenAI spokesperson described the teen\u2019s overdose as \u201cheartbreaking\u201d and extended the company\u2019s condolences to his family.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen people come to ChatGPT with sensitive questions, our models are designed to respond with care \u2013 providing factual information, refusing or safely handling requests for harmful content, and encouraging users to seek real-world support,\u201d the spokesperson told the Daily Mail<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cWe continue to strengthen how our models recognize and respond to signs of distress, guided by ongoing work with clinicians and health experts.\u201d<\/p>\n OpenAI added that ChatGPT\u2019s newer versions include \u201cstronger safety guardrails.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A California teen is dead from an overdose after months of seeking drug-use guidance from ChatGPT, his heartbroken…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121912,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2080,7,9,8,37947,2269,4589,62766,2781,3586],"class_list":{"0":"post-121911","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-artificial-intelligence","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-california-headlines","11":"tag-california-news","12":"tag-chatbots","13":"tag-chatgpt","14":"tag-deaths","15":"tag-drug-overdoses","16":"tag-drugs","17":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121911"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121911\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}