The World's scariest drug
Heroin, Crack Cocaine, Crystal Meth, Krispy Kreme – these are some of the most addictive and most dangerous recreational drugs in the world. But there’s an even more dangerous drug, a substance so terrifying that it would have brought David Bowie back down to Earth. Meet Burundanga, also known as Scopolamine and by its street name “Devil’s Breath”. Take this and you’ll wake up in a strange location with your bank account empty and all your worldly possessions missing. As has happened to many a victim of this incredibly powerful drug. Burundanga is not a drug taken recreationally, in fact it’s a drug that even the most hardcore of substance abusers would steer well clear of. Burundanga is found in the leaves, roots and seeds of the Borrachero tree. The most common way to process the drug, ready for sale on the street, is by taking the seeds from the pod and and grinding them and bleaching them into a white powder. I know, another white powder, how very original. The tree grows in abundance in Columbia, and not just in the wilderness, the tree can be seen lining the streets of huge cities like Bogota, even growing in people’s gardens. Although relatively unknown to the rest of the world, the residents of Columbia know all too well about the plant and its dangers. Columbians make sure they never fall asleep beneath a Borrachero tree, because it’s so toxic that even inhaling its scent for too long is enough to send an individual into an agonising trip for days and even cause instant death. There are thousands of urban myths about the Burundanga drug, and the horrific stories that have become those who’ve unwittingly taken the drug. One story documented in a scientific paper tells of a young man who amputated his own tongue and penis after drinking just one cup of tea made using Burundanga. The drug basically supresses your free-will and makes you susceptible to doing absolutely anything you are told to. It’s so effective in fact that it was used as a truth serum by the CIA; they got a whole lot of truth, but they also got a load of stories about purple elephants and complete rubbish as well, because of its powerful hallucinogenic properties. In Columbia the drug is used for only two purposes, to rob or to kill. Often by organised gangs. It is common for a gang member to blow the powder into the face or wipe it across the nose and mouth of an unsuspecting member of the public. Within seconds the person is under the drug’s powerful spell and there’s not a thing they can do to stop it. Once drugged, the victim looses all self-will and will happily do whatever the attacker asks, even if it causes physical or financial harm to themselves or others. The victim is then told to hand over their wallet and even to drive to their home and help the thieves to empty their own house of all their most expensive possessions and hand them over to the thieves. The worst part about all this is that the victim isn’t even aware that they’re high, so to them it feels completely normal to want to give away all their money and possessions. And what makes this the perfect criminal drug is that the victim won’t remember a single thing about the incident, not who gave it to them or what the person made them do. As you might expect it’s also used as a date-rape drug. However, it’s more commonly used by prostitutes to rob unsuspecting Johns in clubs. Pimps often supply their prostitutes with Burundanga and the girls seduce susceptible looking men in bars, then when they’re not looking the women spike the victim’s drink with the drug. Within a few minutes of the victim ingesting the deadly liquour, they will either be dead because the dosage was slightly too high, which happens all too often in Columbia, or completely at the mercy of the prostitute’s every command. It’s then common for the women to drive their victims around town asking the victim to withdraw all their monies from a series of ATMs and hand it over, which they gladly oblige to, because they have lost their ability to say “no”. And that’s what truly makes this the scariest drug in the world. Women have also known to have been drugged with Burundanga and kidnapped, then used as prostitutes to earn money for the kidnappers. By keeping the women continuously drugged for days they won’t put up any resistance and are in fact extremely willing to do horrendous things. Burundanga or Scolopamine, as it’s known clinically, is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines – a list of the most important medications needed in a basic health system, as it’s used in the medical field in moderate doses to treat motion sickness and supress nausea. It’s therefore crazy to think that in a slightly higher dosage this substance can be used for evil. But then again, what more would you expect from Columbia, the drug capital of the western world. The bottom line is whether it be Weed, Cocaine or Scolopamine, don’t do drugs, it’s just bloody stupid. Thanks for watching.
