As of today, khat is now banned as a class C drug in the United Kingdom . . . and I’ll spare you the “I prefer dogs” jokes, they’re all pretty lame. But in a sentence, khat is a plant chewed by individuals of Horn of African decent for it’s stimulant properties. So while many … Continue reading
The period of time right after World War II was a dark and shady time for the United States. We had just exited hard fought wars on two fronts with the help of the Soviet Union, our ally. But the United States, and the United Kingdom, never fully trusted the Soviets, and saw them as potential … Continue reading
An internet friend of mine regaled me with a tale of a buddy of his that looked like he got whacked in the face with a 2 x 4. Did he owe money to a bookie? Girlfriend beat him up? No, he got his ass handed to him by a one inch long fluffy little … Continue reading
The summer of 1972 was an unusually rainy season in the Corn Belt – the “I” states: Indiana, Iowa, Illinois – and many of the corn fields were infected by the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which in its anamorph lifecycle goes by the name Gibberella zeae (a much cooler name, if you ask me), and also infects wheat and barley (1). These … Continue reading
I’m an addict. I collect scientific papers and research articles. There’s not enough time to read them all, but I save them anyways, thinking I’ll get to them on a rainy day. The problems is, it doesn’t rain that much here. I’d call myself a hoarder, but I’m usually well organized, and the collection only … Continue reading
Of all of Nature’s Poisons, I find natural hallucinogens the most intriguing. Not because I dabble in these sorts of things, I never have nor will, but because I wonder why they are even there in the first place. Plant based poisons are secondary metabolites, meaning that they are not necessary for the basic biological … Continue reading
Take a look at this sign. I saw it at a rest stop off of northbound I-75, just south of Gainesville, Florida. Notice anything wrong with it? I did, and I’m sure a lot of you do, too. The problem, besides snakes loitering around rest stops, lies with the word “poisonous.” Snakes aren’t poisonous, they’re venomous. Semantics … Continue reading
You know humans have done something genuinely bad when Mother Nature creates a tree that wants to hurt you. And I’m not talking about hurting your feelings, I’m talking Rocko and Vinny with baseball bats like you owe them money. They won’t kill you, because they need you to pay up and to tell your … Continue reading
I love horseradish sauce. There, I said it. I love the pungent and spicy spread slathered all over my sandwich. My girls enjoy it, too, which is a good thing, because I often share my sandwich with them. Or maybe they’ve learned to like anything if they’re hungry enough. But most people don’t like to think … Continue reading
Crazed sheep die ‘like heroin addicts’ That’s the catchy headline of a recent article about mass sheep poisonings, and the full article can be read here. It’s meant to entice the headline reader to click through to read the article. I get it. Journalism, however you want to define it, is a business. And businesses such … Continue reading
I’m not a big fan of murder. You know, the cold-blooded style. And poisoners are the worst of the lot. Sneaky and cowardly. Why the disdain? Because of the effort. It takes a lot of work to be a poisoner. You’ve got to plan it out, obtain the poison, and somehow administer it. All the … Continue reading
In 1946 Frederick Prescott found himself on a table, unable to move. He was completely paralyzed. Two minutes prior he was intravenously injected with 30 mg of d-tubocurarine, and now he was in trouble. He could not open his eyes, speak, or even swallow, and no one in the room was aware of his distress. … Continue reading
I grew up in the Puget Sound area of northwest Washington surrounded by rhododendron. Lots of rhododendron. It is the state flower after all. The rhododendron in Washington have large evergreen leaves, bloom in nearly every color, and can grow to be quite large (~8 feet around). I’d bet that nearly every home within a square mile … Continue reading
Cyclops, creatures with a single eye in the middle of their forehead, played an important role in Greek mythologies. They were often cast as dullards and monsters; the henchman of the Gods, and most likely just misunderstood. My favorite cyclops is Polyphemus, from Homer’s Odyssey. In it, the hero Odysseus and his men were returning from … Continue reading
One of the hallmarks of strychnine is its extreme bitterness (click for a review of the science, history, and toxicity of strychnine). So bitter, in fact, that homicidal poisonings are difficult to pull off. But with enough sweeteners and other flavors to mask the taste it is possible, as history has shown us. And with … Continue reading
Just about everyone has heard of strychnine. It’s what I would call one of the “Classical Poisons”, in the same company as arsenic, cyanide, aconitine (Wolfsbane), coniine (Hemlock), and a few others. But if I had to choose a word to describe strychnine, I would call it “romantic.” I’m sure you’re scratching your head on … Continue reading
Mexican prickly poppy, Argemone mexicana, is, oddly enough, prickly. It is native to Mexico and parts of the American Southwest, but has also found homes throughout the world, particularly India. I’ll get straight to the point: it’s a weed. I’ve seen them in New Mexico, and it seems to thrive in dry, barren soil in ditches and … Continue reading
So the vile and young King Joffrey Baratheon finally met his demise. And for most fans of the exceedingly popular HBO series “Game of Thrones” it was a joyous event. I think he’s just misunderstood . . . the poor lad. So how did he die? By poison of course, probably in his wine or food. … Continue reading
In the toxicology world, and especially when poisons are involved, Spanish born Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure Orfila is the man. He is essentially the Godfather of toxicology, and its medicolegal component, and started us on the path towards detecting poisons in biological specimens. And in the early 1800’s he wrote several important books on identifying and treating … Continue reading
I find it cool when a poison has a literal killer history, yet finds use in hospitals around the world as a valuable medicine. That’s the story of physostigmine, an alkaloid found in Physostigma venenosum, the Calabar bean, and where we will start this tale. The Calabar bean is no doubt named for the area in which it was … Continue reading
Nature's Poisons 