GRGR (4) - Truth Serum?

[David Morris]

from http://www.oagpc.com/faq/7.html
7. Is Sodium Pentothal a "truth serum?"
No. The idea of a "truth serum" seems to have originated in Hollywood.
Pentothal is an ultra-short acting barbiturate that makes people go to sleep
for a few minutes. How it was chosen as this fantasy medication is a
mystery.


from http://www2.wku.edu/~wilcojm/thiopentothal.htm
This webpage will provide information about the drug
5-Ethyldihydro-5-(1-methylbutyl-2-thioxo-4,6 (1H, 5H)-pyrimidinedione
monosodium salt also known as Sodium Pentothal. The more correct, yet less
esoteric name for this compound is Thiopental Sodium.
This compound is a common anesthetic used in many medical/surgical
procedures. Sodium pentothal is also employed by states around the nation in
performing captial punishment via lethal injection. Finally, sodium
pentothal is also known as a "truth serum." The use of sodium pentothal in
this last role is the most ill-defined and ambiguous of all the roles of
sodium pentothal. This webpage will explore the medical/surgical, lethal
injection and chemical interrogation applications of sodium pentothal.

[snip]

Chemical Interrogation Applications

As mentioned earlier, sodium pentothal is commonly referred to as a "truth
serum." Generally, this reference occurs in a sixties TV show (Mission
Impossible and some episodes of James Bond come to mind!!)in which the bad
guys inject the hero with sodium pentothal and then, after great internal
struggle, the hero reveals the location of the secret plans. Although not
quite so fanciful, there is some truth to the sixties TV claim that sodium
pentothal is a "truth serum." However, the reality is far from the fiction.

Sodium pentothal was used during chemical interrogations in connection with
hypnosis. Unmedicated, only a small percent of the general population is
susceptible to hypnosis. Because of it's barbituate/anesthetic properties,
sodium pentothal (in minute doses) is able to remove some of the mind's
normal inhibitions/willpower. This effect was combined with hypnosis to
induce the interrogated to "tell the truth." However, as with normal
hypnosis, the patient cannot be hypnotized to do anything that she/he
doesn't really want to do. For example, rob a bank. The same applies to
telling the truth. If the patient has little, to no inhibitions to telling
the truth about a given topic, then hypnosis itself may work --- or it can
be aided with sodium pentothal. However, sodium pentothal will not force a
patient to tell the truth against her/his will.