# Chloroform effects
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 29, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063 "2015-10-29T05:12:28Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ISAIAH\_MUHINDO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISAIAH_MUHINDO)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/1 "2015-10-29T05:12:28Z")
What really happens when someone inhales chloroform? Can it kill you? How long do its effects last? How do you revive somebody rendered …
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### Author:  [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/2 "2015-10-29T08:30:10Z")
Well, it has an anesthetic effect, but, from the Wiki:
> [@Wikipedia](#):
>
> The anesthetic use of chloroform has been discontinued because it caused deaths due to respiratory and cardiac arrhythmias and failure. Following chloroform-induced anesthesia, some patients suffered nausea, vomiting, prostration, jaundice, and coma due to hepatic dysfunction. At autopsy, liver necrosis and degeneration have been observed.
Also, in case this is a need answer fast question:
> [@](#):
>
> Use of chloroform as an incapacitating agent has become widely recognized, bordering on clichéd, due to the popularity of crime fiction authors having criminals use chloroform-soaked rags to render victims unconscious. However, it is nearly impossible to incapacitate someone using chloroform. It takes at least five minutes of inhaling an item soaked in chloroform to render a person unconscious.
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### Author:  [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/3 "2015-10-29T08:39:05Z")
[Yes it can easily kill you.](http://www3.epa.gov/airtoxics/hlthef/chlorofo.html) Effects don’t last long, usually a few minutes or so after the chloroform source is removed, so revival isn’t usually an issue. Remove the chloroform, and the person wakes up. Unless you’ve killed them with it. Then they won’t wake up.
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### Author:  [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/4 "2015-10-29T13:10:48Z")
[Previous informative thread on this topic](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=157428)…
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### Author:  [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/5 "2015-10-29T14:53:49Z")
It’s interesting how TV and movies influence our understanding of how stuff works. Based on the movies you would think Chloroform was a quick acting, long lasting, but temporary anesthetic. Turns out to be just the opposite.
Is there an actual compound that works the way Chloroform works in the movies? I doubt it, or they would be using that instead of Chloroform.
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### Author:  [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/6 "2015-10-29T14:58:28Z")
So what does an up and coming criminal do when he or she needs to render someone unconscious? Chloroform doesn’t work, karate chop to the neck, sock to the jaw, or a bonk on the ol’ noggin doesn’t work. What does?
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### Author:  [@andrea\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrea_green)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chloroform-effects/736063/7 "2015-10-29T15:19:09Z")
Apparently scopolamine is an effective criminal tool: [http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/09/02/devils\_breath\_could\_be\_worlds\_scariest\_drug.html](http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/09/02/devils_breath_could_be_worlds_scariest_drug.html)
The drug scopolamine is also known as “the devil’s breath” or “burundanga.” The late salsa diva Celia Cruz sang about it. In a recent documentary, Vice called it “the world’s scariest drug.”
That’s because scopolamine provides a potent weapon to Colombian criminals. The drug puts people into a zombie-like state in which they lose both their memory and free will and can be convinced to empty their bank accounts or hand over the keys to their apartments and cars.