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Every now and then we hear about the presence of a harmful substance in our lives. Sometimes they turn out to be drugs, and sometimes new forms of narcotic drugs are invented. It also happens that various types of conspiracy theories circulate about various chemical compounds, which largely obscure our image of reality, but feed our imagination. Such a substance is also scopolamine, also called “devil’s breath”. What is it doing, why is it so dangerous, and what is myth and what is truth in all of this?
Scopolamine, or the truth serum?
Many tales and urban legends have arisen around this complex chemical compound. Apparently, the effect of scopolamine is to make the one on which it was used performs all commands passively. Therefore, it would be used for seizures, in which someone blows it in our face or gives it to drink. It is said to have been so effective that in the 50s the CIA used it as a “truth serum” as the person treated with it revealed all secrets when asked. To this day, Colombia warns against scopolamine attacks (or at least that’s what we can read on the Internet).
Certainly, it was also used in antiquity and the Middle Ages as a poison, because a relatively small amount is a lethal dose for humans, it is easy to hide and is practically undetectable without proper testing (it is odorless and tasteless).
The truth about the serum
However, setting aside the sensational information about scopolamine, it is worth taking a look at its properties and effects, and what it actually involves and how it is used in medicine. Indeed, even a small amount of this substance can be fatal to humans – about 0,33 milligrams is a dose that a person can bear without harming his health, while 10 milligrams would be enough to put someone into a coma or cause cardiac arrest. In small doses, by acting on the central nervous system, it causes sedation, drowsiness or dementia, it also acts as an anticonvulsant and antiemetic. In medicine, it is most often used before surgery to reduce the chances of cardiac arrhythmias under anesthesia. In addition, it is used in very small amounts in patches against motion sickness.
In the case of taking more than the permitted dose, we are dealing with poisoning, which manifests itself through the feeling of strong disorientation, appearing hallucinations and, consequently, delirium. However, severe poisoning can cause paralysis and, consequently, death. Therefore, it is true that this chemical compound is dangerous to humans in higher doses.
As for the possibilities of human control through this substance, the effectiveness of scopolamine depends on many other factors. First of all, as already mentioned, this drug has a strong intoxicating or almost paralyzing effect. As a result, the poisoned victim may simply become unconscious. It depends primarily on the dose, but also on the body, because different people react differently to the action of the substance. Indeed, there is evidence of greater talkability and frankness among those who have been administered to the effects of scopolamine-containing drugs. For example, it was once administered to pregnant women because of its pain-relieving effects, and they were supposed to share details of their personal lives with random people. Obtaining precise information, however, would require appropriate mental manipulation skills as well as the ability to separate facts from the products of a delirious mind.
Scopolamine as a drug
The difficult facts about scopolamine, however, include reports of its use as a drug. Probably the small amount of the substance needed to act is encouraging to intoxication with it and the fact that the effects do not have to wait long and they are rather spectacular. Due to the fact that it is easy to overdose, it belongs to a particularly dangerous type of drugs.
Unfortunately, scopolamine can also be used as a so-called rape pill and it’s not a myth. Since the action of this substance is mainly by blocking receptors, the memory function is also stopped, so that those who are affected by the drug do not remember either that they took it or what happened to them afterwards.
Nevertheless, reports of such uses appear sporadically and seem to be disappearing for good. However, the old wisdom that warns us against taking unknown substances from strangers is confirmed, it is worth considering at least once in your life.