http://www.straightdope.com/columns/070518.html
Interesting article. Some nasty stuff out there! Here’s a semi-related thread we had awhile ago: CIA suicide pills and legal executions - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board
I’m surpised Cecil didn’t mention soap operas. Nothing more damaging to the human species. Poison I tell you!
Did Cecil make a boo-boo?. He says “A compound with a relatively high LD-50 might be carcinogenic and therefore deadlier in the long run, nicotine offering the salient example.” I think he means tobacco - nicotine is a very weak carcinogen if at all, so it cannot be regarded as salient.
slight correction on my correction - nicotine itself probably isnt carcinogenic. However some of its metabolites probably are.