Talk:Scopolamine

Crime - Vice Documentary

I'll leave this here for any editor if they want it. I've never had much luck editing Wikipedia directly, but some of the references I've added in talk have worked here and there..

References

Use by the CIA in Project MKULTRA

"To Dr. Isbell, it was just another experiment. "I have had seven pa�tients who have now been taking the drug for more than 42 days," he wrote in the middle of the test, which he called "the most amazing demonstration of drug tolerance I have ever seen." Isbell tried to "break through this tolerance" by giving triple and quadruple doses of LSD to the inmates. Filled with intense curiosity, Isbell tried out a wide variety of unproven drugs on his subjects. Just as soon as a new batch of scopolamine, rivea seeds, or bufontenine arrived from the CIA or NIMH, he would start testing. His relish for the task occa�sionally shone through the dull scientific reports. "I will write you a letter as soon as I can get the stuff into a man or two," he informed his Agency contact. No corresponding feeling shone through for the inmates, however. In his few recorded personal comments, he com�plained that his subjects tended to be afraid of the doctors and were not as open in describing their experiences as the experi�menters would have wished. Although Isbell made an effort to "break through the barriers" with the subjects, who were nearly all black drug addicts"

References

Incorrect labelling of enzyme in diagram, 'Biosynthesis in Plants' section

The difference between hyoscyamine and scopolamine is an epoxy (C-O-C) ring on the latter. The reaction to form this ring would, I suppose, be catalysed by an 'epoxidase' rather than a 'hydroxylase' enzyme. Indeed, in the text this enzyme is identified as 6beta-hydroxyhyoscyamine epoxidase. Yet, in this diagram, the enzyme is named as 'hyoscyamine 6beta-hydroxylase'. I think that this is an error in the diagram : I think that this final enzyme of the diagram is mislabelled on the diagram. I do not know how to change this. Please will somebody check and change this Boleslaw (talk) 11:51, 7 May 2024 (UTC)

How is it produced?

How is scopolamine produced for medical use? Is it derived from plants, or completely produced by chemical processes? Can someone add that to the article? Jimhoward72 (talk) 20:28, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

Unreliable sources RE: Czech torture and effects?

I've been trying to find any actual evidence that scopolamine was used for the explicit purpose of eliciting confessions, as well as any evidence that it actually has such effects, rather than just the standard psychoactive effects? Ever since the Vice documentary, which perpetuated claims that a single dose of dust blown in your face can turn you into a walking zombie, the information around scopolamine's use in crimes seems sketchy.

The source given here on the article, stating that it has been proven to have been used in Czechoslovakia is from https://www.idnes.cz/, a czech tabloid. Furthermore, its sources are from witnesses who would understandably not be reliable as to the specifics. Its use as a "truth serum" seems to be debated, seemingly used more in robbings and assaults in developing countries like GHB is used in developed countries. Contemporary CIA reports seem to assert that its use was more likely as a sedative or to confuse people - and not as a "truth serum".

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp65-00756r000400020007-9

"There is no evidence that the Communists have effectively or extensively used amytal interviews as a means of extracting confessions, although it is quite probable that they have experimented with this maneuver. The hypnotic drug which is most frequently mentioned as a Communist tool is Scopolamine, a naturally occuring substance long known in medical science. It is one of the ingredients in the "twilight sleep" medication used by obstetricians on women in labor. It, too, has an intoxicating and befuddling effect in small doses, an effect which would be difficult to distinguish from that of the profound fatigue, sleep loss, undernourishment, anxiety and confusion produced by the usual Communist control techniques. In every instance in which there is direct evidence that Communist police have given hypnotic and sedative drugs to prisoners, they have administered these drugs for the purpose of calming and relaxing excited and fatigued individuals. American physicians would be likely to use these drugs in a similar manner for the same reason."

I think this article needs solid sourcing, or removing the mention if none exist.

https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/stranger-than-fiction/ 86.21.49.156 (talk) 10:55, 7 June 2024 (UTC)