Scopolomine Revisited

[JimD]

Image here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9540194@N06/6619955017/
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When visiting Colombia one of the risks cited in the state department warnings is attack with disabling drugs:
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 Use of disabling drugs: The Embassy continues to receive reports of criminals in Colombia using disabling drugs to temporarily incapacitate tourists and others. At bars, restaurants, and other public areas, perpetrators may offer tainted drinks, cigarettes, or gum. Typically, victims become disoriented or unconscious, and are thus vulnerable to robbery, sexual assault, and other crimes. Avoid leaving food or drinks unattended at a bar or restaurant, and be suspicious if a stranger offers you something to eat or drink. Certain areas of Bogota are off-limits to U.S. Embassy personnel due to the prevalence of the use of disabling drugs.
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The most commonly used is Scopolomine colloquially called burrundanga. Here's a little more about it. It's produced from a small tree of the genus Brugmansia that is common throughout the Andes region.  Not related to the effects below but an unusual feature of the flowers is that they give off no scent whatsoever in the day time but beginning around five in the afternoon and continuing through out the night they give off an intense scent like perfumed soap.
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 From Wikipedia:
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 “Brugmansia have also traditionally been used in many South American indigenous cultures in medical preparations and as a ritualistic hallucinogen for divination, to communicate with ancestors, as a poison in sorcery and black magic, and for prophecy. Medicinally, they have mostly been used externally as part of a poultice, tincture, ointment, or where the leaves are directly applied transdermally to the skin. External uses include the treating of aches and pains, dermititis, orchitis, arthritis, rheumatism, headaches, infections, and as an anti-inflammatory. They have been used internally much more rarely due to the inherent danger of ingestion. Internal uses, in highly diluted preparations , and often as a portion of a larger mix, include treatments for stomach & muscle ailments, as a decongestant, to induce vomiting, to expel worms and parasites, and as a sedative. In a concentrated or refined form, derivatives of Brugmansia are also used for murder, seduction, and robbery. “
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And:
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     “All parts of Brugmansia are poisonous, with the seeds and leaves being especially dangerous. Brugmansia are rich in Scopolomine (hyoscine), hyoscyamine, and several other tropane alkaloids. Effects of ingestion can include paralysis of smooth muscles, confusion, tachycardia, dry mouth, diarrhea, migrane headaches, visual and auditory hallucinations, mydriasis, rapid onset cycloplegia, and death.”
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 If you ever find yourself the victim of suspected scopolomine attack it's extremely important that you seek medical attention the reason being the risk of cycloplegia or paralysis of the ciliary muscle of the eye preventing you from being able to focus. This side effect is sufficiently dangerous that Scopolomine attack is listed as one of the coverages provided by private health plans such as my Coomeva Plan Oro.
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 More on the subject here:
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 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brugmansia 

[mudd]

i know its a problem in medellin and bogota being used on foreigners, but havent heard anything in other cities.

[Gato4Astrid]

The golden rules is not to accept any offer from strangers - food, drink, smoke or even flowers!!