The term “truth serum” itself appeared in the 30s of the twentieth century. Work to find such a “drug” began even earlier. Even the ancient Romans proclaimed In vino veritas (the truth is in wine) - and they were not so far from the truth. “When you’re high,” it’s much easier for a person to loosen his tongue. Sigmund Freud, by the way, an ardent fan of cocaine, considered intoxication a means of awakening the dormant subconscious. Directly in forensic science, what would later be called “truth serum” was first used at the end of the 18th century by an Italian named Monteggia. He injected opium into a suspected criminal to extract a confession from him.
However, the scientific method of obtaining truthful testimony from a person through certain chemical substances It's called "drug analysis". According to foreign experts, narcoanalysis, like hypnosis, in police and investigative practice is mainly used when the person being interrogated, for one reason or another (for example, due to shock) is not able, at the time of a normal interrogation, to remember the event of interest to the investigation and its details essential to the investigation.
The history of the method is as follows (explained according to: Obraztsov V.A., Bogomolova S.N. “Forensic psychology”). The idea of the possibility of practical use of a side effect of anesthesia arose not among criminologists, but among doctors. Using mild anesthesia to relieve labor pain, they noticed that women were telling things about themselves and their loved ones that they would never have said normally. In 1922, Texas physician Robert Ernest House, known as the "father of truth serum," published an article in the Texas Medical Journal entitled "The Use of Scopolamine in Criminology." (In 1931, this article was reprinted in the English Journal of Police Science.) Dr. House conducted numerous experiments, selecting optimal dosages of drugs and frequency of injections, and came to the conclusion that, if observed, necessary conditions his method is a win-win.
In 1924, speaking to police officers in Houston, he said that he had managed to create a method that allowed, against the will of the subject, to extract from his memory information “hidden” at the subconscious level of the psyche. This is achieved by injecting a dose of scopolamine into the blood. This drug, as Dr. House assured his listeners, causes either deep dream, or being awake with “consciousness turned off.” In such an artificial unconscious a person can answer questions like a small child - honestly, directly, without trying to evade the answer, deceive or cheat. Later, after conducting numerous experiments, Dr. House became convinced that there is no person who could resist the effects of scopolamine, and that the method he created was as reliable as fingerprinting of the fingers. After this, the method was adopted by the police.
Neither the creator of the “truth serum” nor his many followers imagined how decisively he would face resistance in the courts. The first incident occurred in Missouri, when the lawyer of a rape accused tried to use the testimony of a medical expert who interrogated the accused under anesthesia as evidence of his client's innocence. The court found the expert’s explanations unconvincing and untenable scientific point vision. Since then, both in the Old and New Worlds, courts have for a long time no longer take into account evidence obtained under anesthesia. Motivation - the readings were obtained "in an altered state of consciousness" and, therefore, may be a product psychological pressure. In addition, subsequent experiments forced a more restrained attitude towards the reliability of the drug analysis method itself. As it turned out, there are people who can lie even under anesthesia, and people who give truthful testimony become confused while in this state. Life, however, has shown that abandoning the drug analysis method is premature.
After World War II, narcoanalysis began to be used to treat war psychoses (narcoanalysis is sometimes called “rapid psychoanalysis”) and to treat amnesia in persons who had suffered shell shock. Psychiatrists use drug analysis to recognize malingering when assessing sanity.
As for the investigative process, drug analysis has come to be used to help a witness or victim remember the circumstances surrounding a crime. It is believed that these days drug analysis is rarely used when interrogating suspects, and only in cases where the testimony of the interrogated person differs from the results of a polygraph test. At the same time, there are widespread rumors in the information space that law enforcement agencies and especially intelligence services in many countries widely use “truth serum” against stubborn interrogators.
It is typical that testimony under anesthesia is not accepted as evidence. They can be a source of valuable guiding information and help the investigator form an internal conviction of the guilt or innocence of the interrogated person. With this information, the investigator can also focus his efforts on a specific area of investigation and collect the necessary evidence.
The interrogation of a suspect under anesthesia is carried out, according to the legislation of Western countries, in conditions medical hospital. Once the appropriate decision has been made, a working group, which may include representatives of the defense, prosecution, judges, psychiatrists, psychologists, experts on foreign language, experimental scientists, investigators. The selection of specialists is dictated by the specifics of the act under investigation. Required terms in all cases, there is scientific objectivity, the usefulness of the research, knowledge of the personality characteristics of the suspect and the details of the case. The commission always includes an anesthesiologist who performs the injection. pharmacological drugs in the dosage necessary to achieve the state required for interrogation.
In a conversation preceding the test procedure, the interrogator establishes psychological contact with the suspect, tries to gain his trust, convincing the persons conducting the examination that the procedure is safe for health, and that the truth will certainly be established. The suspect is explained his constitutional rights that allow him to refuse the examination. He is also warned that if he agrees, the results of the drug analysis may be used during further investigation and trial.
The drug analysis procedure itself is carried out in a regular operating room. The most comfortable atmosphere is created whenever possible. All drugs (belonging to the barbiturate group) are administered intravenously (this way the desired effect is achieved faster and it is easier to control the effect of the drug). In this case, scopolamine, sodium amytal or sodium pentonal are usually used. When they are administered, a twilight, drowsy state occurs, the so-called “half-consciousness”. IN 
In this case, the “censorship of consciousness” is removed and deep, true experiences and attitudes are released.
As the injection takes place, the suspect is interviewed on topics unrelated to the crime. By the end of the first stage of anesthesia, when the interrogated person already has difficulty perceiving questions and answering them, the conversation is transferred to the subject of the interrogation. Once the initiators of the interrogation feel that the suspect is determined to tell the truth, the latter is slowly brought out of the state of anesthesia until he begins to speak clearly and intelligibly so that all his testimony can be recorded on a tape recorder.
At the end of the drug interrogation, a conversation is held with the suspect, at which all members of the commission are present. The suspect is presented with a recording of his testimony given under anesthesia; he is often so surprised that he gives confirmation of this testimony in a “procedurally acceptable” form.
A professionally conducted drug analysis helps to obtain information about the guilt or innocence of the suspect. (In the latter case, suspicions against him are removed.) A similar procedure is used to prepare and interrogate victims and witnesses under anesthesia.
In the book by A.I. Kolpakidi and D.P. Prokhorov "KGB. Special Operations" Soviet intelligence“It is reported that in Stalin’s times, in the depths of the KGB, a secret laboratory functioned to study the use of toxic substances in operations carried out by the Soviet intelligence services. In the same laboratory, developments were also carried out regarding psychotropic substances that “untie” the tongue.
For the first time about laboratory "X", which has been developing for more than 30 years chemicals for special operations, P. Sudoplatov said in the open press. There is no doubt that domestic specialists were able to quite competently and successfully solve the assigned tasks of developing substances with unique characteristics. In the context of the topic raised, it is enough to mention that all German saboteurs sent to Moscow as part of Operation Monastery were euthanized in a safe house and arrested without firing a single shot. No traditional sleeping pill is guaranteed to put several people to sleep. strong men not only quickly, but also simultaneously (and the simultaneity of euthanasia in in this case is the main criterion for the effectiveness of special equipment). Without a doubt, even then - in 1943-44. - The NKVD had at its disposal effective special means of the widest range of actions: for euthanizing, immobilizing, interrogating and killing the enemy, as well as tonics and analgesics.
After a series of failures with the use of scopolamine (the Japanese driver admitted guilt in the murder of the boy while “high”, and then it turned out that he was innocent), toxicologists around the world were looking for other “truth-based” means.
Mescaline
In the 40s, the “last squeak” was mescaline - the same drug from the Mexican peyote cactus, on which (among other things) Carlos Castaneda made his name. Both the SS and OSS (US Bureau of Strategic Services - the predecessor of the CIA) took it seriously. The intelligence services became interested in the effect that mescaline had on the Indians of Mexico, who used it in rites of repentance.
Ethnographer Weston La Barre, in his monograph “The Cult of Peyote” (1938), wrote: “At the call of the chief, the members of the tribe stood up and publicly confessed the wrongdoings and insults inflicted on others... Tears, by no means ritual, flowed down the faces of those who frankly confessed and completely repented. They all asked the leader to guide them on the right path." Scientific experiments have proven that during a mescaline high, the will completely disappears and the tongue becomes loose. By the way, these experiments were carried out not in laboratories, but in concentration camps - unsuspecting prisoners were injected with a drug, and they “revealed their deepest secrets.” One thing was bad - the effect of mescaline lasted very long. short time.
Marijuana
When mescaline did not live up to the hopes of criminologists, marijuana was used. The American police could not get enough of it when the stoned August del Garcia - a small fry in the gang of mafioso Lucky Luciano - became unusually talkative and betrayed all his accomplices. After this, the CIA even began to “test” suspected communist sympathizers with marijuana. However, it turned out that weed only affects people who are temperamental and talkative by nature. People who are closed and talkative are not inclined to make revelations even when high.
LSD
The Soviet intelligence services did not lag behind their Western colleagues - they, too, were clearly racking their brains over the creation of a “truth serum.” The most striking confirmation of this is the trial of the head of the Hungarian catholic church Cardinal Joseph Mingenti. He made his “confessions” so mechanically that it was obvious: there was a dose of “chemistry” here!
Meanwhile, in the West they began to rush around with a new idefix: LSD. The United States and England made joint efforts to proclaim this drug a “truth serum.” The experiments of the researchers were monstrous - for example, the American doctor Harris Isabel, testing the tolerability of LSD, prescribed the drug to seven “volunteers” for 77 (!) days in a row - and... again did not come to particularly convincing results.
Sodium pentothal
This, however, did not prevent the use of “truth serum” from being recognized as legal. Legislative approval for truth-containing drugs was given in the 50s - just when the English doctor Rossiter Lewis distinguished himself. In 1953, he injected sodium pentothal (another type of “serum”) into a man who was accused of murdering his partner. And although there was no confession, Lewis wrote in his report that the defendant confessed. They believed the report. Subsequently, Dr. Lewis brought in several more accusations in the same way. French criminologists followed his example. They injected the same sodium pentothal to Henri Sens, accused of collaborating with the Nazis. Being in a semi-conscious state, Sens uttered the word “yes”. Prosecutors interpreted this as evidence of guilt.
Is it the end?
Little by little, already in the 50s, the idea of a “truth serum” began to evoke skeptical grins. British psychiatrist Stephen Horsley wrote: “I used anesthesia as a means to obtain a confession. And in this state, even innocent people often admitted their guilt. The results of the experiments convinced me that anesthesia cannot be used to make an innocent person admit what he denied fully conscious." It became clear that intoxication can make a person more suggestible, disinhibited, talkative, and can force him to admit some guilt attributed to him, but it is unlikely to force him to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Moreover, under the influence of such drugs, memory was turned off, and the defendants did not remember not only their own answers, but even the questions they answered - how could they answer the truth if they did not record the question? Even in the new edition of Webster's Dictionary, the entry on "truth serum" was changed to read: "A truth serum is a drug believed to temporarily enhance truthfulness."
But, albeit without the same enthusiasm, the search for a substance that would make everything secret clear continued until the early 70s. For example, the CIA conjured psilocybin mushrooms and curare poison. Yes, they are still used today different kinds"truth serum" However, they are used not in forensics, but in medicine - for diagnosing hysteria.
But it’s too early to relax! Today's belief in mind control technologies such as brain chips or electronic memory erasing is very reminiscent of the "truth serum" hysteria of half a century ago. Electronic spies took the place of chemical spies.
New lie detector
This method was first used in the investigation of the murder of a police officer in Iowa. The guy who was considered guilty spent twenty years in the camps. And only when a contraption was placed on his head, with which his memory could be tested, it turned out that in the poor fellow’s brain... there were no memories of the crime. But there are details of the concert the young man attended on the evening of the murder.
A person's memory is tested using a special helmet with electrodes. And experts consider this method to be much more reliable than old-generation lie detectors. Detectors, used in forensic science since the 20s of the twentieth century, determine whether a person is lying or telling the truth based on physiological parameters: blood pressure, breathing, sweating, etc. So crystal honest, but nervous people, when tested with such detectors, appear to be complete liars, and cold-blooded liars appear as models of truthfulness. It is easy to mislead the detector and thereby force it to... lie.
As for the helmet, invented by Lawrence Farwell, a scientist and businessman from Iowa, it operates on a completely different principle - it detects the electrical signal that the human brain emits when perceiving familiar images (this signal is conventionally called P300). The subject looks at the screen inside the helmet, which shows, for example, various combinations of numbers. Suddenly, among completely arbitrary digital combinations, his own home phone number flashes - and the person’s brain reacts to familiar information with the same P300 signal, and this happens completely independently of the will of the subject.
The policeman's killer fled the crime scene through a vacant lot overgrown with weeds. He couldn't help but remember how he made his way through the tall, thorny stems. However, when the accused was put on a helmet and the phrases “cement and asphalt”, “sand and gravel”, “grass and thorns” were shown on the internal screen, the device did not record the P300 signal in any case. Of course, this does not yet prove the innocence of the accused, but it gives important information court, and it’s up to him how to interpret them.
In 2001, the American newspaper Washington Times wrote that American federal courts might allow investigators to use “truth serums” to obtain information about bin Laden and his terrorist network, al-Qaida.
relations." Well, this is not the first time for Americans. It is known for sure that during the Second World War, drugs were administered to suspected spies.
Sodium pentothal is a drug that contains psychoactive substances that affect consciousness. Under their influence, a person speaks the truth. Sodium pentothal - what is it and what does it consist of?
Initially, this drug was used for anesthesia, since the substances included in the composition can slow down the neural activity of the central nervous system. IN correct dosages the drug causes drowsiness, and in overdose can be fatal.
The “truth serum” contains many substances. This is not one drug, but different ones, which are combined into one group.
History of appearance
Sodium pentothal began its history in 1913. One doctor, delivering a baby at home, administered scopolamine to a patient. At that time, this substance was widely used as an anesthetic. After the birth, the doctor asked for a scale to weigh the baby, but the woman in labor’s husband could not find it, and he shouted: “Where are these scales?”, to which the woman clearly replied that they were “in the kitchen, behind the picture,” despite the fact that was in a semi-conscious state. The obstetrician did not immediately understand what had happened, but when the man brought the scales and said that they were located exactly in the place that his wife had indicated, it dawned on the doctor that the injected substance had such an effect. After the use of scopolamine, the development of other drugs began that could suppress the central nervous system and cause truthful answers to the questions posed.
Now in the arsenal of institutions that need to obtain the truth from those interrogated, there are the following “truthful” substances:
- scopolamine;
- sodium pentothal;
- mescaline;
- Anabasine and others.
After the Texas incident, “truth drugs” began to be used when interrogating criminals. The first test subject was a prisoner from Dallas. The results were stunning. Subsequently, they decided to improve the drug by creating a “truth serum.”
Scopolamine as the main substance of truth
“Truth Serum” is based on scopolamine. obtained from plants of the nightshade family (datura, nightshade, henbane, etc.) Scopolamine is a white powder, easily soluble in liquid.
When the drug is administered, patients' pupils dilate, heart rate increases, smooth muscles relax, and sweating decreases. Scopolamine also has a sedative and hypnotic effect. After its use, all people experience amnesia.
Sodium thiopental
This drug is a mixture of thiobarbituric acid with sodium carbonate, ethyl and sodium salt. It has an anticonvulsant effect, greatly relaxes muscles, and blocks central nervous system impulses. The substance also has a hypnotic effect and changes the structure of sleep. When administered correctly, it can depress the respiratory center, reducing sensitivity to carbon dioxide.
Mescaline
In the last century, the substance mescaline was popular. It was obtained from a cactus. Initially, mescaline was used by the Indians to obtain truth during the rite of repentance. In the USA they became interested in it and began to use it to suppress the will and obtain information from prisoners. The experiments were carried out in concentration camps.
Using the serum today
Sodium thiopental (pentothal) is not used in forensic investigations these days. "Truth serum" is prohibited for use not only for ethical reasons, but also for other reasons.
This is the appearance of hallucinations after the administration of substances. Often, when using “truth serum,” suspects did not tell the truth, but what they thought they said. Due to the effect of the psychoactive substance on the brain, hallucinations arose, which some people perceived as reality. And when answering questions, they did not speak the truth, but described their visions.
It is difficult to choose the correct dosage of the substance. Even the most experienced specialists cannot always determine the required amount for the interrogated person to tell the truth.
Overdose is fatal.
Despite the fact that many countries around the world still resort to “truth serum,” it has not become widely used. It is usually used in extreme cases. The last recorded use of the substance during interrogation was in 2008.
Some people are looking for an answer to the question of how to make sodium pentothal with their own hands. No way. This is a complex chemical.
Now sodium pentothal is just a movie drug in which “truth serum” is used during interrogations. In reality, its use did not give desired results, so it has been abandoned, although some countries use it on rare occasions. However, under the influence of sodium pentothal, it is easy for a person to instill any information. Subsequently, he perceives it as reality, as if everything said happened to him. Because of this, America abandoned the use of the substance, and everything that was said under the influence of the drug sodium pentothal is not evidence of the defendant’s guilt.
In chapter Diseases, Medicines to the question Truth Serum. Does she really exist? How does it work? What is the price? given by the author Nastya Makarova the best answer is vodka
Answer from Alexey Gerasimov[guru]
no, there is no such serum, unfortunately
Answer from Anna Vilkova[newbie]
Yes, I completely agree, maybe they came up with a serum, but they don’t let it into the public, but for now there is vodka in circulation and in large quantities
Answer from Yergey Sergeevich Trifonov[guru]
Sodium pentothal, sodium theopental, a drug used in psychiatry, is not sold without a prescription and to outsiders... but in general, best serum- this is a file in the teeth...
Answer from LioHa[guru]
I remember when I was a child.... They called me to the musarnya, handcuffed me (from behind) and gave me a pound weight in my hands. (16 kg). And answers that they didn’t like were rewarded with a punch in the gut. Now mentally combine all this, and here is the “truth serum”.
Answer from PATRIOT[guru]
Any introductory anesthesia, from scobolamide to barbiturate and ketamine, can be used as a truth serum. You can buy some of them even without a prescription, but you need to be able to choose the right dose, and this is for professionals
Answer from Ekaterina Naumova[guru]
The drugs are different. Amytal, pentothal, ketamine, barbiturates... Special chemistry causes disinhibition nervous system, disabling internal mechanisms of psychological self-defense, paralyzing willpower and a sense of criticality. As a result, the tongue is loosened, and during the subsequent conversation the person answers questions with complete frankness. True, he can come up with something himself, so you cannot trust the method one hundred percent. Substances according to the classification belong to potent and psychotropic drugs, and therefore in free sale They are not here.
But you can also extract information from a person without chemicals. It is necessary, when he is sleeping, to gradually and carefully begin to talk to him. , and he will tell you everything. what you need without realizing it.
Answer from Yoali-Mali[guru]
If you find it, try it on yourself before using it on other people!!!
Answer from Maks 001 Grubyi[newbie]
how to make truth serum?
Answer from Vapro ytsukeng[newbie]
Drink some vodka
Answer from Inessa Lobetskaya[newbie]
Please give me the recipe.
Answer from Kote Koteykov[newbie]
Truth serum
Scopolamine, sodium amytal
or sodium pentonal.
mescaline is the one
drug from mexican
peyote cactus, on which (in
including) made a name for himself
Carlos Castaneda. Scientific
experiments have proven that
during mescaline
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One thing was bad - the effect of
effects of mescaline
kept it very brief
time.
Mescaline is also found in
quite common
"Alpine slide" plant
- stone rose. Not now
images at hand. How
only there will be an opportunity
take a photo - photo
this succulent will
posted in this article and you
you'll recognize her right away, you've seen her a hundred
once.
The problem of quickly obtaining truthful information from captured enemies appeared at the dawn of military history and remains relevant to this day. For many millennia, the art of war developed and improved, but the means for extracting information remained the same: the rack, tongs, hot iron, etc., etc. In the humane and enlightened 20th century, electric current was added to the arsenal of inquisitors. Despite the apparent technical news, the principle remains the same: break the personality of the person being interrogated with pain until he agrees to forced cooperation.
A real innovation, based on a completely different principle, was the so-called. "truth serum". This expression combines psychoactive substances that are forcibly administered to interrogated people in order to obtain the necessary information from them. Strictly speaking, a “truth serum” is not a serum. Whey in the general biological sense is a dispersed mixture of coagulated proteins, something like cottage cheese, highly diluted with water. Serum in a narrow medical, hematological sense is the liquid part of blood (blood plasma), from which the protein (fibrinogen) responsible for its coagulation has been removed. The wounded in the field of pain are injected with antitetanus serum (TSS) into mandatory. From there, the name “serum” migrated to psychoactive substances, which are also administered forcibly, although the drugs themselves are not serum.
The history of “truth serum” began in 1913 in the US state of Texas. Obstetrician Dr Robert House delivered the baby at home and administered scopolamine, which was then widely used as a painkiller. The obstetrician asked the father to bring home scales to determine the child's weight. My husband looked for them for a long time, but could not find them. When he shouted in irritation: “Where are these damn scales?”, the intoxicated woman clearly answered: “They are in the kitchen, on a nail behind the picture.” Dr. House was amazed. The woman in labor was intoxicated; she did not yet understand that she had already had a child, but nevertheless she understood the question and gave a clear, truthful answer.
This is a bit strange for an obstetrician, but Robert House was inspired by the idea of using scopolamine in justice (without the consent of the suspects, of course). The first to be questioned under anesthesia was W. S. Scrivener, who was being held in the Dallas County Jail on charges of robbing a drug store. In his publication in the State Journal of Medicine Texas Dr. House described Scrivener as "very smart white man" The second subject was a dark-skinned prisoner of “average intelligence.” Scopolamine gave excellent results, and the masses started talking about it, although legally educated part society denied all options for its use. To understand the effect of “truth serum”, you need to know how the human nervous system works normally. It is the highest unifying and controlling system in the body. It is based on reflexes that regulate heartbeat, breathing, digestion and other functions. internal organs- this is the so-called "autonomic nervous system, ANS." At the next level there is control over balance, position and movement of the body in space - this is the somatic nervous system, SNS. At the very top - the highest nervous activity, which distinguishes us from animals. This is consciousness. In a rough approximation, it consists of two layers - deep (self-awareness, SO) and surface (self-expression, SV). SW is the result of the interaction of CO with environment and has as its goal the best adaptation of the individual to it. Thus, SV never fully discloses CO, but only its individual aspects that are best consistent with the state of the environment in a particular place and time. To fully reveal CO, it is necessary to completely eliminate environmental influences, i.e. it is necessary for a person to be left alone only with his thoughts. Even the lightest and most gentle presence of the environment, in the form of a beloved woman, confessor or psychologist, inevitably introduces some distortion into the manifestation of SO. Moreover, it is impossible to get to the bottom of the CO if a person is previously configured for active opposition - silence and deception of the interrogator.
It has long been noted: “What is on the mind of a sober person is on the tongue of a drunk.” The phenomenon of “drunken frankness” consists of selective inhibition upper layers self-expression with preserved activity of the lower layers of self-awareness. Freed from “prohibiting” situational control nerve centers SV, CO begins to produce “pure initial information”, not adjusted by place and time. Loss of control of consciousness during drug use or alcohol intoxication, as well as during normal falling asleep, always goes from the higher sections of nervous activity to the lower ones. Recovery (waking up) occurs in the reverse order.
The problem of practical control over consciousness is that the diagram of the autonomic nervous system - somatic nervous system - higher nervous activity (self-awareness - self-expression) corresponds to reality no more than a sheet of a 1:100,000 map corresponds to the terrain drawn on it. Get some general idea perhaps, but reality is an order of magnitude more complex and varied. In fact, there are no clear boundaries between the layers of the nervous system; they intersect with each other like intertwined fingers. And there are many more layers; psychologists and psychiatrists have been studying them for many years.
On modern stage development of pharmacology and medicine, selective “switching off” of certain zones and areas of the cerebral cortex, where higher nervous activity and consciousness are concentrated, is impossible. Alcohol, drugs and medications“turn off” the entire cortex at once. It is impossible to predict in advance exactly what path the “disconnection” process will take. In some areas, amazing control over consciousness is maintained. In others, all higher nervous activity completely “falls through”, and involuntary somatic reactions begin - balance and coordination of movements are disturbed, visual image doubles and “floats”, a person loses orientation in space, etc.
Thus, at the level of consciousness control, a “patchwork quilt” effect is obtained. There are breakdowns in the consciousness control system, but not everywhere and not even selectively, but chaotically. It is possible to extract some specific information from open gaps, but it is very difficult. You can get confirmation or denial by asking direct questions like “Did you do it?” or “Is there something over there?” However, it is almost impossible to achieve a detailed, logically coherent explanation of any action or location. It is also not possible to completely disable consciousness control. This will entail the loss of a large amount of valuable information, and in addition, some basic autonomic functions will be disabled - control of breathing and blood pressure in the vessels. Alcoholics and drug addicts often die from suffocation, which occurs as a result of inhibition of the breathing center.
These features greatly limit the use of “truth serum” in jurisprudence. But even the ancient Romans noticed that “sapienti sat” - smart person one word is enough. Intelligence agencies around the world work outside the ethical categories of “good” and “bad,” and not one of them hesitates to use narcoanalysis—interrogation under the influence psychoactive substances when he considers it necessary. The arsenal of interrogating psychologists includes:
Scopolamine. An alkaloid found together with atropine in plants of the nightshade family (scopolia, belladonna, henbane, datura and some others). Colorless transparent crystals or white crystalline powder. Easily soluble in water (1:3), soluble in alcohol (1:17). In order to stabilize injection solutions, add a solution of hydrochloric acid to pH 2.8-3.0. Chemically, scopolamine is close to atropine: it is an ester of scopine and tropic acid. Close to atropine in its effect on peripheral cholinoreactive systems. Like atropine, it causes dilation of the pupils, paralysis of accommodation, increased heart rate, relaxation of smooth muscles, decreased secretion of digestive and sweat glands. It also has a central anticholinergic effect. Usually causes a sedative effect: reduces motor activity, may have a hypnotic effect. A characteristic property of scopolamine is the amnesia it causes. Scopolamine is sometimes used in psychiatric practice as a sedative, in neurology - for the treatment of parkinsonism, in surgical practice, together with analgesics (morphine, promedol) - to prepare for anesthesia, sometimes as an antiemetic and sedative for sea and air sickness.
Sodium thiopental. A mixture of sodium thiobarbituric acid with anhydrous sodium carbonate. Slows down the time of closure of GABA-dependent channels on the postsynaptic membrane of brain neurons, lengthens the time of entry of chlorine ions into the neuron and causes hyperpolarization of its membrane. Suppresses the stimulating effect of amino acids (aspartic and glutamic). In large doses, directly activating GABA receptors, it has a GABA-stimulating effect. It has anticonvulsant activity, increasing the threshold of neuronal excitability and blocking the conduction and spread of convulsive impulses throughout the brain. Promotes muscle relaxation by suppressing polysynaptic reflexes and slowing nerve conduction interneurons spinal cord. Reduces the intensity of metabolic processes in the brain, the brain's utilization of glucose and oxygen. It has a hypnotic effect, which manifests itself in the form of accelerating the process of falling asleep and changing the structure of sleep. Inhibits (dose-dependently) the respiratory center and reduces its sensitivity to carbon dioxide. It has a (dose-dependent) cardiodepressive effect.
Sodium amytal. Ethyl ester of isoamylbarbituric acid. It acts in the same way as sodium thiopental, but more “gently”. The effect of the application occurs more slowly and lasts longer.
In the 40s, mescaline, a drug from the Mexican peyote cactus, on which Carlos Castaneda made his name, was very popular in the United States. Secret Service and the US Bureau of Strategic Services (OSS, the predecessor of the CIA) took it seriously. The intelligence services became interested in the effect that mescaline had on the Indians of Mexico, who used it in rites of repentance. Ethnographer Weston La Barre, in his monograph The Cult of Peyote (1938), wrote: “At the call of the chief, members of the tribe stood up and publicly confessed the wrongdoings and insults inflicted on others... Tears, by no means ritual, flowed down the faces of those who confessed frankly and completely repented. They all asked the leader to guide them on the right path.” Scientific experiments have proven that the will is significantly suppressed during the action of mescaline. The experiments were carried out not in laboratories, but in concentration camps. The drug was surreptitiously administered to unsuspecting prisoners.
There are reports that in 1942, the head of the secret laboratory of the NKVD of the USSR G. Mairanovsky, while conducting experiments with poisons on those sentenced to death, discovered that under the influence of certain doses of the drug the experimental subject began to speak exceptionally frankly. After this, with the approval of management, he took up the “problem of frankness” during interrogations. Such experiments were carried out over two years. It is reliably known that in 1983 the KGB used special drugs SP-26, SP-36 and SP-108 to investigate sabotage at the Vilnius Zalgiris machine-tool plant, with the approval of the first deputy chairman of the KGB, Tsinev. There is also a widely known case of the use of “truth serum” by Indian intelligence services against a person accused of participating in the terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008.
Truth serum has interested people since ancient times. This name usually refers to a certain drug, the administration of which can force a person to give out information that he does not want to communicate. The serum appears in many literary works. As a rule, imaginary people who are under the influence of the drug remain lucid, but at the same time become unable to lie when asked a question, or they experience a passionate need to speak all their thoughts out loud.
Real intelligence services also worked with truth serum for some time. In fact, the drugs that were used to loosen the tongue of the criminal were psychotropic, and the criminal was in an altered state of consciousness during the interrogation. This fact, as well as the fact that confessions often turned out to be fantasies, forced the use of the serum to stop.
Scopolamine
The closest thing to the described truth serum is scopolamine. His ability to force a person to tell information was learned quite by accident at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, it was administered to women in labor as an anesthetic, and one day the doctor noticed how one of his patients, half asleep, gave her husband detailed instructions about where things were for the newborn.
Soon, scopolamine began to be positioned as a substance that could loosen the tongue of any person. For some time it was used during police interrogations, but it was soon discovered that, along with real memories, the suspect was also retelling his fantasies that were born in his head under the influence of the drug.
Sodium thiopental
Sodium thiopental, or pentothal, is another contender for being called a truth serum. IN modern books and in films, this drug is most often featured as a substance that can loosen the tongue of an interrogated person. In reality, pentothal is used for anesthesia. This truth serum also has its own side effects.
For example, it can force the person to whom it was administered to state not the real essence events, but to adjust his own to the desires of those who interrogate him. The use of sodium thiopental was quickly abandoned, but in 2007 the substance was used in India on suspected serial killers. After the injection, the maniac and his accomplice indicated the places where they buried their victims.
