A Nova Scotia family is warning others about the dangers of poppy seed tea, a dangerous but easily obtained product which is being blamed for the death of their son.

Cole Marchand, the cousin of Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand, died two weeks ago from an opium overdose after drinking tea made from a poppy seed pod he ordered on the Internet.

The 19-year-old Upper Tantallon, N.S. man was found by his father in his bed, dead, after drinking the tea.

"We are now going to counselling for trauma," his father Darrell Marchand told CTV Atlantic. "It's a vision that you'll never forget."

Despite the fact they are still grieving his loss, Cole's family is striving to raise awareness about the dangers of the product commonly marketed online as natural and safe.

"When you get the pod you take the seeds out of the pod, you grind them up, you add them to hot water and make a tea," Marchand explained. "If you take too much then your respiratory system starts to break down until eventually you go onto a coma and you stop breathing."

Because the opium levels in every seed pod can vary greatly, the risk of overdose is always present, according to a number of websites warning of the potential dangers.

Cole texted a picture of the drug -- which contains opiates including morphine and codeine -- to his sister just days before his death.

"I said, 'what is it for?'" says 18-year-old Carissa Marchand. "And he said 'tea. Deliciously euphoric opium tea.'"

Carissa said her brother assured her it was safe and she had no reason to worry.

"He said 'Yeah, it's safe. It's all natural, so it's much safer than Vicodin or OxyContin. And obviously safer than heroin.'"

But Carissa and the rest of her family want to spread the message that the product isn't safe and can have deadly consequences.

"Even though he was extremely smart with drugs, it really doesn't matter how much research you do," she warned. "There's websites on the Internet that say it's fine because it's natural, but obviously it's not."

The family said Cole struggled with depression and had used drugs in the past. They called on other parents to be watchful of their own children.

"He had depression, so I want people out there to know, that take it seriously, do whatever you can for your kids," said Tanya Marchand, Cole's mother.

The family said they will remember Cole as a kind and compassionate young man who had a passion for motocross.

While poppy seeds are legal in Canada, poppy seed pods are not. Cole ordered his from a website based in China.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell