The "Devil's Breath" (Scopolamine) is a powerful and highly potent chemical compound that has been used in various ways, including as a tool for robbery, manipulation, and even torture. A Colombian drug dealer, Demencia Black, was known to use the substance to rob victims without violence, by blowing it into their face, rendering them highly suggestible and compliant. The substance has also been linked to cases of forced consent in sexual assaults and has been used by the Czech Secret Police as a truth serum to extract confessions from prisoners. While some of the stories surrounding the Devil's Breath are exaggerated or unverified, the substance is still considered highly toxic and can have severe side effects, including hallucinations, drowsiness, dry mouth, and cardiac arrhythmia. However, it also has legitimate medical uses, such as treating motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Devil's Breath is a chemical compound also known as Scopolamine or Hyoscine.
2. It is a fine, white powder similar in appearance to cocaine.
3. The Devil's Breath is synthesized from a number of plants, including a type of nightshade common in the upper region of South America.
4. In high enough doses, Scopolamine can have toxic effects on the body.
5. Many scientists believe that Scopolamine depresses the central nervous system, leading to side effects such as hallucinations, severe drowsiness, dry mouth, cardiac arrhythmia, and amnesia.
6. If overdosed, Scopolamine can be fatal if not treated in time.
7. The elderly are at a higher risk of developing dementia when given the drug.
8. Scopolamine has been used for spiritual purposes across the globe for thousands of years, inducing states of ritualistic religious hallucination in users.
9. It entered popular Western medical use in the late 1800s as a popular anesthetic for childbirth, an antidote to gastrointestinal spasms, and an effective treatment for postoperative nausea and vomiting.
10. Scopolamine is still used today to prevent motion sickness, and wearing a small, prescription scopolamine patch can make travels smoother.
11. The US's Overseas Security Advisory Council estimated 50,000 Scopolamine-related incidents in South America every year in 2015.
12. The Czech Secret Police used Scopolamine as a truth serum to force confessions out of perceived enemies of the state in the mid-to-late 20th Century.
13. The Aboriginal people of Australia have used similar chemicals from the soft corkwood tree in Bush Medicine for thousands of years.
14. Scopolamine has been used to stave off nausea for over a century, including by tribal chiefs and the Allies in World War II.