I feel like I must have dreamed this up because I can’t find any information about it online. A while back, I swear I heard a whole report (on the radio? on TV? in my head?) about how in some South American country where kidnappings and such are common, criminals were using some sort of “zombie dust” that they’d puff in people’s faces that instantly turned those people into, well, zombies. It seemed like there was a lot of superstition and misinformation/urban legending happening about it.
Does anyone know what I’m talking about?
Maybe this will serve as a starting point for your investigation.
A zombie (Haitian French: zombi, Haitian Creole: zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in which a zombie is a dead body reanimated through various methods, most commonly magical practices in religions like Vodou. Modern media depictions of the reanimation of the dead often do not involve magic but rather science fictional methods suc...
People dispute Wikipedia as a questionable source. But I find it is a good starting point for most of these kinds of questions.
I’ve sometimes heard scopolamine described this way:
Scopolamine, also known as hyoscine, or Devil's Breath, is a natural or synthetically produced tropane alkaloid and anticholinergic drug that is used as a medication to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva. When used by injection, effects begin after about 20 minutes and last for up to 8 hours. It may also be used orally and as a transdermal patch since it has been long known to have transder Scopolamine is in t...
And a little bit closer to home: the Master speaks .
So have I. Article here,
Colorless, odorless and tasteless, scopolamine is slipped into drinks and sprinkled onto food. Victims become so docile that they have been known to help thieves rob their homes and empty their bank accounts. Women have been drugged repeatedly over days and gang-raped or rented out as prostitutes.
and some travel advice from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs here . (They really don’t want you to go to Colombia.)
Avoid going to bars alone. Never leave your drink or food unattended. There have been numerous incidents of drugs being used (including scopolamine) to incapacitate travellers in order to rob them. Scopolamine can be administered through aerosols, cigarettes, gum, or in powder form. Typically, travellers are approached by someone asking for directions; the drug is concealed in a piece of paper and is blown into the victim’s face. Exercise extreme caution, as scopolamine can cause prolonged unconsciousness and serious medical problems.