Artistic License Pharmacology: Difference between revisions

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** This theory of addiction can be a [[Discredited Trope]] nowadays, as a number of substances now known not to cause physical dependence (cocaine being the big one, along with methamphetamine and MDMA) can indeed cause horrifying psychological dependence. For what it's worth, the DSM-IV actually does include "cannabis dependence" among its list of substance abuse disorders.

*** Athough 'psychological dependence' is also a contested concept because there is evidence that it is not drug-dependent state. In other words, if one starts to take drug that does not cause physical dependence to alleviate unwanted emotional state this may lead to dependence on any substance with similar result (with a preference to the best known drug). Think uncontrolled self-medication of anxiety and depression. In other words, the source of the problem is not the drug itself but rather a underlying psychological problem that needs to be addressed directly.

* [[Poisoned Weapons]] in media are sometimes used to instantly kill an enemy of superior skill if the user even gets a scratch in.

** In reality, the only efficient (and as such the only widespread) use was on arrows - this way some opponents are incapacitated with what would be light wounds, ''and'' there's enough time for poison to act. Specifically, on ''barbed'' arrowheads - otherwise it's mostly washed away with blood once the arrow is removed. Even then, victims who weren't cut down or trampled in the next hour may survive, especially if they received basic medical help, like one [[Genghis Khan|Temujin]].

** Use as in ''[[Hamlet]]'', where it was intended to kill no matter who 'won' (and be slow enough that the poisoner would not be suspected in this case) avert the trope.

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** Averted in [[A Song of Ice and Fire]]. The poison that {{spoiler|Oberyn Martell}} uses to kill {{spoiler|Gregor Clegane}} takes weeks or months to kill him. This aversion is itself subverted in that the poison he used ''should'' have been instantly fatal, but it was "thickened" somehow to prolong the suffering.

** The traditional hunting poisons ''seem'' to be very fast, but those are either cardiotoxins (still need time to get there, and dosage may vary wildly between target species) or neurotoxins (the target actually is incapacitated with sudden searing pain and local spasm until paralysis kicks in, and dies of breath paralysis much later, if at all - more likely, of neck twist or knife, because a hunter doesn't know how much got in bloodstream and doesn't want the bag to make noises).

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* Confusing pulmonary, blister and nerve agents with each other. Only blister agents cause, well, blisters. (We're looking at you [[The Rock]]. And you [[Eden: It's an Endless World!]])

* The belief, propagated by a few old mystery stories, that finely powdered glass was an undetectable poison to slowly shred the victim's insides. If it were finely powdered enough not to be painful in the mouth, it would do no damage further down the line.

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* Poisoned weapons in media are sometimes used to instantly kill an enemy of superior skill if the user even gets a scratch in. Use as in ''[[Hamlet]]'', where it was intended to kill no matter who 'won' (and be slow enough that the poisoner would not be suspected in this case) avert the trope. Averted in [[A Song of Ice and Fire]]. The poison that {{spoiler|Oberyn Martell}} uses to kill {{spoiler|Gregor Clegane}} takes weeks or months to kill him. This aversion is itself subverted in that the poison he used ''should'' have been instantly fatal, but it was "thickened" somehow to prolong the suffering.

* During a TV debate on legalizing illegal drugs the "keep drugs illegal" person stated that alcohol was not a drug. No point in continuing to watch.

* Homeopathy:

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** Mind, the iron in your Wheaties is probably not in the form of elemental iron, but is in some oxidized form, possibly an acid salt, like ferric citrate, or some iron oxide.<ref>Which, by the way, is rust.</ref>

* Contrary to what one might see in many espionage movies, potassium cyanide does not kill in matter of seconds. It takes at least few minutes before cyanide begins to act, and few following minutes to cause death by massive apnea and cardiac failure. Additionally, victims are also portrayed as frothing at mouth and quickly passing out. In reality, an acute cyanide poisoning is pretty messy affair involving strong seizures.

** Also, it's not "guaranteed", as cyanides actualy have antidotes. Both fast-acting ones and... sugar. A common hypothesis of Rasputin's failure to notice that someone poisoned him is that he simply ate a lot of sweets at that table.