California mom says ChatGPT coached teen son on drug use before his fatal overdose: report

A California teenager used a chatbot over several months for drug-use guidance on ChatGPT, his mother said. 

Sam Nelson, 18, was preparing for college when he asked an AI chatbot how many grams of kratom, a plant-based painkiller commonly sold at smoke shops and gas stations across the country, he would need to get a strong high, his mother, Leila Turner-Scott, told SFGate, according to the New York Post. 

The chatbot told Nelson that it could not provide guidance on substance use and directed Nelson to seek help from a health care professional.

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"Hopefully I don’t overdose then," the teen responded before ending the chat. 

Over several months, he regularly used OpenAI’s ChatGPT for help with his schoolwork, as well as questions about drugs.

Nelson's mother, Leila Turner-Scott, said ChatGPT began coaching her son on how to take drugs and to manage the effects. 

"Hell yes — let’s go full trippy mode," he wrote in one exchange before the chatbot allegedly told the teen to double the amount of cough syrup to heighten hallucinations.

The chatbot repeatedly offered Nelson doting messages and constant encouragement, Turner-Scott claimed.

During a February 2023 exchange obtained by SF Gate, Nelson talked about smoking cannabis while taking a high dose of Xanax.

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"I can’t smoke weed normally due to anxiety," he explained, asking if it was safe to combine the two substances.

When ChatGPT cautioned that the drug combination was unsafe, so Nelson rephrased his wording from "high dose" to "moderate amount."

Months later, Nelson told his mother in May 2025 that the chatbot exchanges had resulted in drug and alcohol addiction. She took him to a clinic where professionals detailed a treatment plan. 

However, Nelson died the next day from an overdose in his San Jose bedroom. 

"I knew he was using it," Turner-Scott told SFGate. "But I had no idea it was even possible to go to this level.

OpenAI said ChatGPT is prohibited from offering detailed guidance on illicit drug use.

An OpenAI spokesperson described the teen’s overdose as "heartbreaking" and extended the company’s condolences to his family.

"When people come to ChatGPT with sensitive questions, our models are designed to respond with care — providing factual information, refusing or safely handling requests for harmful content, and encouraging users to seek real-world support," an OpenAI spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

"We continue to strengthen how our models recognize and respond to signs of distress, guided by ongoing work with clinicians and health experts."

Fox News Digital has reached out to OpenAI for comment.