# Legal Chemical Weapons

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-chemical-weapons/164137>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 25, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-chemical-weapons/164137 "2003-03-25T21:48:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-chemical-weapons/164137/1 "2003-03-25T21:48:54Z")

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Are any chemical weapons legal to use in war? for example tear gas? Is tear gas even considered a chemical weapon?

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**Author:** ![UncleBill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d26b3c/32.png) [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2003, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-chemical-weapons/164137/2 "2003-03-25T21:50:55Z")

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Depends on who you ask. Before the ground assualt began a newsie was saying the military was told NOT to use CS (tear gas). My SWAG was some people would use that use as an excuse to use badder stuff on US.

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**Author:** ![Seldon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seldon)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-chemical-weapons/164137/3 "2003-03-26T00:53:02Z")

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I believe that any chemical used to maim or kill people during a war is considered a WMD and therefore illegal. This prevents countries from using pesticides or herbicides that are legal on people. (Agent Orange used in Vietnam was a herbicide).

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**Author:** ![Seldon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seldon)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legal-chemical-weapons/164137/4 "2003-03-26T01:02:59Z")

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I should add that to my knowledge, Agent Orange WAS used to defoliate the trees, and as an unintended consequence caused poisoning to humans. I don’t know how to make the neat little cites, but this is a good page about the history of chemical weapons:

[www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4239/chemweapons/history.html](http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/4239/chemweapons/history.html)