# Is there a convenient drug a layman can use to knock somebody out very quickly?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [June 24, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378 "2010-06-24T17:15:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/1 "2010-06-24T17:15:41Z")
Another (kind of hackneyed) question for my book.
I know, of course, that an anesthesiologist can put you down for the count before you count down to eight. And I’m sure that those men in the white coats have something they can inject into your ass so you stop trying to chew their faces off.
I need something that a non-expert can use easily with a syringe that doesn’t, say, need refrigeration or anything. He won’t get too bent out of shape if he accidentally kills, say, one in twenty with it, but he does want them to wake up from it. He’ll be using it on women of roughly similar weight to one another. Also, it has to be something that he _can_ purposefully overdose somebody on and kill them.
Then, I need to know of the candidates how long it takes you to die of an overdose (I need some time in here), what the symptoms are, if a victim would regain consciousness at all, and what the treatment would be (and how quickly it would work.) I was thinking morphine, but don’t know if that’s a practical knockout drug in the first place.
Also good to know, of course, is how easy it would be to come by for our killer, although I’m sure you can get just about anything you want if you’re willing to, say, go to Mexico, right?
---
### Author:  [@DogRatCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DogRatCat)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/2 "2010-06-24T17:38:25Z")
Am I the only one thinking, we better see all this some day in an actual BOOK, and not in newspaper headlines! 🙂
So anyway, since your killer isn’t exactly law-abiding, why can’t he have acquired his knockout juices illicitly rather than brewing up his own concoction? From a veterinary clinic or whatever.
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/3 "2010-06-24T18:06:34Z")
Oh, I didn’t mean “what can he make”, I meant “what can he buy or steal” - what drugs he’d use. What substances would do what I need them to do?
And no way would I drug people and haul them out to the country - I’m not strong enough to load a full grown knocked out woman into a vehicle without an accomplice, and you know two can keep a secret if one of them is dead.
---
### Author:  [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/4 "2010-06-24T18:10:05Z")
“Hey, does this smell like chloroform to you?”
---
### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/5 "2010-06-24T18:11:07Z")
If ever a thread cried out for the [need answer fast] tag…
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/6 "2010-06-24T18:11:34Z")
🙂 That was my first thought, but isn’t choloform _really_ unpredictable, given the delivery method?
---
### Author:  [@Birger\_Jari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birger_Jari)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/7 "2010-06-24T19:04:40Z")
gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid(GHB)
Slip it into a drink at a party. As for narcotics, Morphine is a classic.
---
### Author:  [@JoeH2O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeH2O)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/8 "2010-06-24T19:10:35Z")
Any opioid is going to do the trick - just have to be careful with the strong ones because they suppress the respiration of you subject.
If he can get hold of some fentanyl, he can knock anyone put almost instantly.
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/9 "2010-06-24T19:20:52Z")
So what happens when you bring somebody into a hospital and all you know is that he was knocked out with some drug and isn’t waking up, skin cold and clammy, breathing shallow, etc.? What do they do? Is it easier if they know what drug it was (like with snake antivenin?)
ETA - Fentanyl wears off too quickly, doesn’t it?
---
### Author:  [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/10 "2010-06-24T19:27:50Z")
There are any number of anesthetics that would do – barbiturates like pentobarbital, or ketamine. Most will induce unconsciousness within seconds if injected intravenously, though it’ll be slower with an intramuscular shot (random jab to the arm). They’re all deadly at high enough doses, and barbiturates are used to euthanize animals. Dosing is a bit tricky, especially in your scenario since barbiturates interact very strongly with alcohol, so a dose that would safely knockout a sober victim would kill someone that just stumbled out of a bar. Barbiturates used to be fairly common recreational drugs, though not in injectable forms.
---
### Author:  [@Birger\_Jari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birger_Jari)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/11 "2010-06-24T19:28:36Z")
They would look at common symptoms in order to try and find out what general group the drug would belong to, and then they would carry out tests.
Just an educated guess. If I were you I would look up general hospital procedure for dealing with something like that.
---
### Author:  [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/12 "2010-06-24T19:30:52Z")
Paging Dexter Morgan…
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/13 "2010-06-24T19:33:32Z")
Any ideas on how long treatment for that sort of thing takes? (Minutes, hours, weeks?) I know there are, for example, specific counteractive drugs they give people with morphine overdoses - how long before the victim regains consciousness?
---
### Author:  [@Birger\_Jari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birger_Jari)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/14 "2010-06-24T19:36:16Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> Any ideas on how long treatment for that sort of thing takes? (Minutes, hours, weeks?) I know there are, for example, specific counteractive drugs they give people with morphine overdoses - how long before the victim regains consciousness?
Well that would depend on how much of the drug they ingested…
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/15 "2010-06-24T19:45:20Z")
Almost, but not quite, enough to kill him, duh. 🙂 Not too too much, since I need some time to work. It would be good if he could talk to the cops within a few hours, and I don’t want to have it be totally unrealistic.
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/16 "2010-06-24T19:51:53Z")
Realized that may have sounded confusing - my killer usually does this to women, but he ends up having to knock out a man (big, tall dude) in a hurry. Doesn’t really like having to kill him, so instead of chopping him up like the women he just gives him more of whatever he knocked him out with so he can kind of work the self-denial option. I need him to be knocked out and getting worse for several hours before I can get him to the hospital, but then it would be nice if he could talk to the cops pretty soon after.
---
### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/17 "2010-06-24T20:31:29Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> Realized that may have sounded confusing - my killer usually does this to women, but he ends up having to knock out a man (big, tall dude) in a hurry. Doesn’t really like having to kill him, so instead of chopping him up like the women he just gives him more of whatever he knocked him out with so he can kind of work the self-denial option. I need him to be knocked out and getting worse for several hours before I can get him to the hospital, but then it would be nice if he could talk to the cops pretty soon after.
Would long-term liver damage upset the story/sequel options?
---
### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/18 "2010-06-24T20:34:25Z")
Yes, rather. It’s unattractive in a love interest. 🙂
---
### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/19 "2010-06-24T22:18:04Z")
The traditional [Mickey Finn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mickey_Finn_%28drugs%29) beloved of crime writers in the 40s and 50s was chloral hydrate. I had this drug prescribed long ago and it is a powerful sleep-inducer. It would never take effect instantly though, as in the movies, certainly not taken orally - figure about 20-30 minutes to knock someone out.
---
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [June 24, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378/20 "2010-06-24T23:09:18Z")
If [Roofies](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohypnol) work for date rape, they should work for your purposes.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-convenient-drug-a-layman-can-use-to-knock-somebody-out-very-quickly/544378.md?page=2)