– (Dalts/Strange World)
Not like everyone thinks. Several narcotic and sedative substances, including ecstasy, marijuana and LSD, have been used as «truth serum» since the term appeared in the early 20th century. But, to date, no scientific research has managed to discover a drug that make the person lose control of himself and speak only the truth.
The first truth serum was applied around 1915. A US obstetrician, Robert House, noticed that women in labor anesthetized with scopolamine spoke sincerely about various subjects. Then, in 1922, he tested the drug on two suspects in a crime. They denied the charges and were cleared.
Today, CIA studies claim that barbiturates (a type of sedative), such as sodium pentothal, could be used to lower a person’s guard, revealing their ability to speak another language, for example. It is speculated that the agency itself has already used truth serums in interrogations.
During the Military Dictatorship in Brazil, serum was widely used as a form of torture in prisons. Sodium pentothal was injected with the intention of making the prisoner reveal plans and hiding places. Even with the supervision of doctors, there were many side effects, such as hallucinations.
Currently, one of the countries that use it the most is India. The local government condemns it, but complaints of application in some regions of the country are frequent. Laboratories regulate the use of narcotics in interrogations. In 2012, police officers asked for authorization to apply sodium pentothal to a politician suspected of corruption.
The UN is against the use of this type of substance and, for Amnesty International, using supposed truth serums in interrogations is considered a means of torture.
Substances cause communication problem
Most truth serums work in the brain, inhibiting the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This affects the sending of information from neurons to other cells. The person becomes more uninhibited and with altered judgment. The heart races and it is possible to have hallucinations, high fever and seizures
CONSULTANCY Ana Luiza Camargo, coordinator of the psychiatry area at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Mara Fernandes Maranhão, psychiatrist at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein
SOURCES Websites The Guardian, Scientific American It is Institute of Social Medicine and Criminology of São Paulo