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simchoonseng

Scopolamine : derive from Brugmansia

simchoonseng
11 years ago

All parts of Brugmansia are poisonous

Hi,

Need help to understand whether this is referring to the same plant.

Borrachero tree and Brugmansia.

Thanks,

http://www.biopsychi...borrachero.html

http://timesofindia....ow/13143754.cms

http://gizmodo.com/5...ug-in-the-world

http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Brugmansia

LONDON: A hazardous

drug

derived from a particular type of tree common in Colombia can eliminate free will and can wipe the memory of its victims. The drug, which is currently being dealt on the streets of the country, is called scopolamine, but is colloquially known as 'The Devil's Breath,' and is often

blown

into faces of victims or added to drinks.

Within minutes, victims are like 'zombies' - coherent, but with no free will. Some victims report being raped, forced to empty their bank accounts, and even coerced into giving up an organ. According to Daily Mail, Ryan Duffy of Vice - a New York City based Canadian magazine - travelled to the country to find out more about the powerful drug.

In two segments, he revealed the shocking culture of another Colombian drug world. Demencia Black, a drug dealer in the capital of Bogota, said the drug is frightening for the simplicity in which it can be administered . He said Scopolamine can be blown in the

face

of a passer-by on the street, and within minutes, that person is under the drug's effect - scopolamine is odourless and tasteless. "You can guide them wherever you want. It's like they're a child," he explained. Black said that one gram of Scopolamine is similar to a gram of cocaine, but later called it 'worse than anthrax.' In high doses, it is lethal.

Brugmansia

All parts of Brugmansia are poisonous, with the seeds and leaves being especially dangerous.[16][20] Brugmansia are rich in Scopolamine(hyoscine), hyoscyamine, and several other tropane alkaloids.[21] Effects of ingestion can include paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion,tachycardia, dry mouth, diarrhea, migraine headaches, visual and auditory hallucinations, mydriasis, rapid onset cycloplegia, and death.[22][23][24]

The hallucinogenic effects of Brugmansia were described in the journal Pathology as "terrifying rather than pleasurable".[25] The author Christina Pratt, in An Encyclopedia of Shamanism, says that "Brugmansia induces a powerful trance with violent and unpleasant effects, sickening aftereffects, and at times temporary insanity".[16] These hallucinations are often characterized by complete loss of awareness that one is hallucinating, disconnection from reality, and amnesia of the episode, such as one example reported in Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience of a young man who amputated his own penis and tongue after drinking only 1 cup of Brugmansia tea.[26] The Swiss naturalist and explorer Johann von Tschudi described the effects of Brugmansia ingestion on one individual in Peru:

Soon after drinking the Tonga, the man fell into a dull brooding, he stared vacantly at the ground, his mouth was closed firmly, almost convulsively and his nostrils were flared. Cold sweat covered his forehead. He was deathly pale. The jugular veins on his throat were swollen as large as a finger and he was wheezing as his chest rose and sank slowly. His arms hung down stiffly by his body. Then his eyes misted over and filled with huge tears and his lips twitched convulsively for a brief moment. His carotids were visibly beating, his respiration increased and his extremities twitched and shuddered of their own accord. This condition would have lasted about a quarter of an hour, then all these actions increased in intensity. His eyes were now dry but had become bright red and rolled about wildly in their sockets and all his facial muscles were horribly distorted. A thick white foam leaked out between his half open lips. The pulses on his forehead and throat were beating too fast to be counted. His breathing was short, extraordinarily fast and did not seem to lift the chest, which was visibly fibrillating. A mass of sticky sweat covered his whole body which continued to be shaken by the most dreadful convulsions. His limbs were hideously contorted. He alternated between murmuring quietly and incomprehensibly and uttering loud, heart-rending shrieks, howling dully and moaning and groaning.[2]

Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of Brugmansia plants.[2][27]

In 1994, 112 teenagers were admitted to hospitals from ingesting Brugmansia in Florida alone.[28] The concentrations of alkaloids in all parts of the plant differ markedly. They even vary with the seasons and the level of hydration, so it is nearly impossible to determine a safe level of alkaloid exposure.[22]

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