Scopolamine Is Not A Controlled Substance, But It Can Still Cause You Plenty Of Legal Problems
Except for the Schedule I drugs, every controlled substance is a prescription drug, but not every prescription drug is a controlled substance. Plenty of medications are not available over-the-counter, but the law does not consider them dangerous enough to impose the penalties for illicit drug possession if you possess them without a prescription. You might get hauled off to jail if, at a traffic stop, police discover that you have Xanax pills that were not prescribed to you, but you would not suffer the same consequences if the pills were Metformin, a prescription drug commonly used to treat diabetes, but one which has no known recreational uses. The drug schedules are subject to change as new drugs are synthesized and as drugs originally thought harmless reveal their unknown potential for abuse. For example, scopolamine, a prescription drug not listed on any of the controlled substance, has gained notoriety for its use in crimes that, on the surface, appear unrelated to drugs. If you are being accused of possessing a prescription drug that was not prescribed to you, contact a Pittsburgh drug crime lawyer.
Why Is Scopolamine So Dangerous?
Scopolamine occurs naturally in plants such as the deadly nightshade and black henbane, as well as other species found in temperate areas of Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was a popular drug for anesthesia, since giving scopolamine with low doses of morphine is as effective as and less dangerous than simply giving high doses of morphine. It was even given to women during childbirth before the availability of modern methods such as epidural anesthesia. Today, its most common application is to treat motion sickness. It is still used before surgery to prevent postoperative nausea and to reduce the production of saliva and respiratory secretions.
The side effects of scopolamine include drowsiness and a disoriented mental state. This makes it useful for anesthesia, but this is also why it is a sought-after drug for the furtherance of crimes.
In the News
Scopolamine, also known as Devil’s Breath, is much more dangerous than it looks. While fatal overdoses are rare, the drug’s effects make people who consume it vulnerable to crimes such as sexual assaults, robberies, and abductions. Often, the targets of these crimes are unaware that they consumed the drug, since it does not change the appearance or taste of a drink to which it is added. In this regard, it is similar to Rohypnol, except that scopolamine has a shorter half-life. Therefore, it often does not show up on blood tests or urine tests when its targets report the crimes to the police and undergo a medical examination.
Contact Gary E. Gerson About Criminal Defense Cases
A criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for possession of scopolamine or for conspiracy to commit a crime involving scopolamine. Contact the law offices of Gary E. Gerson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania about your case.
