Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Given the number of deaths of hostages in the attempt to use a fentanyl
derivative to break the Moscow theater hostage siege in 2002,
111
it is also
probable that the Soviet Union was no more successful at that time.
Nevertheless, efforts clearly continued during the 1990s to overcome
the problems involved in perfecting a usable nonlethal chemical inca-
pacitant. One US presentation at the 1995 Edgewood Annual Scientific
Conference on Chemical and Biological Defense Research suggested that
“depending on the specific scenario, several classes of chemicals have
potential use, to include: potent analgesics/anesthetics as rapid acting im-
mobilisers; sedatives as immobilisers; and calmatives that have the sub-
ject awake and mobile but without the will or ability to meet objec-
tives.”
112
Follow-up work along these lines is reported to be continu-
ing.
113
Since the end of the Cold War, the genomics revolution has allowed
much greater elucidation of the receptors for the natural transmitters,
and other such nonlethal chemical agents, in the brain.
114
We now know
much more about the structures of the individual receptor subtypes and
of the circuits in which they operate. Moreover, as the military institu-
tions of technologically advanced nations have become more involved in
operations other than war in trouble spots in the developing world, they
have again become interested in obtaining usable nonlethal weapons—
including chemical incapacitants.
In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that specialists have
warned that “it is hard to think of any issue having as much potential for
jeopardising the long-term future of the Chemical and Biological Weap-
ons Conventions as does the interest in creating special exemptions for
so-called non-lethal chemical weapons.”
115
Despite the failures recorded
here, it is unlikely that the search for nonlethal chemical incapacitants
is over.
Search WWH ::
Custom Search