Emily Chan
Throughout the 1920s and ’30s, police gave suspects scopolamine in an effort to get them to confess to crimes. The CIA and the U.S. Army even explored the effectiveness of LSD and cannabis.
Researchers have emphasized that although “truth drugs” can loosen lips, they have not been proven to make a human completely incapable of lying. What’s more, their use as a means of gathering information has raised ethical concerns.
In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that confessions made while under the influence of truth serums were coerced and, therefore, unconstitutional.
In addition, legal scholars argue that truth serums are in violation of the Fifth Amendment, and some label them as a form of torture.
Still, other countries, like India, are less hesitant to use the substances, and they continue to be exploited today.
