ABSTRACT
Incapacitating agents (ICAs) are pharmaceutical-based agents developed as nonlethal weapons for law enforcement or warfare purposes. Notable examples of ICAs that were developed for use as nonlethal weapons include depressants such as cannabinols, psychedelics such as d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), deliriants such as BZ, and opioids such as fentanyls (Field Manual 3-11.9, 2005). The intent to use these ICAs in weapons is, for the most part, a relic of the Cold War. For example, it has been decades since depressants and psychedelics were researched, and promptly dismissed, as potential ICAs. BZ and fentanyls, on the other hand, more advanced in their development as ICAs, and fentanyls were actually used in 2002 for law enforcement purposes. Further, the rise in fentanyl-related deaths resulting from smoking transdermal fentanyl patches (e.g., Duragesic) warrants the inclusion of these opioids in this discussion of inhalation toxicology.
