Are truth drugs considered torture or

[.... callchet ....]

are they permitted?

[nichomachus]

1. Any time drugs

are given to you against your will, that is considered assault and battery.

Any other questions?

[.... callchet ....]

4. Millions

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

6. That's not true in every state for the mentally ill.

Just sayin'.

[nichomachus]

10. That comes under different ethical considerations

and isn't without problems. In some cases, it may not be A&B legally, but it is morally. Just because it's legal doesn't make it ethical.

You have to distinguish first between "involuntary" (I don't want that) and "non-voluntary" (the person can't make a rational decision). If the person -- insane, infant, unconscious -- can't make the decision, then there are mechanisms to decide whether this is either what the person would have wanted or whether it is in the person's overall best interests. There can be, and are, disputes in this area.

However, drugs given in an interrogation scenario are involuntary, and are always an assault and battery -- not far different from beating a person until he tells you what you want to hear, although they don't necessarily leave any physical scars. The main offense is the violation of the person's autonomy as a human being.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

12. Agreed. n/t

[Transmorgify]

15. :P

*imagining insane person on truth drugs*

[.... callchet ....]

7. What about being incarcerated while waiting for

process ?

[nichomachus]

11. Very problematic ethically.

There's a lot of dispute in this area.

[azul]

13. What about force feeding? nt

[safeinOhio]

2. I don't know about you, but I have always enjoyed them.

[YOY]

3. Considering Sodium Pentathol has other medicinal uses no in it's case.

n.t.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

5. I'm just going from memory here, so it could be flawed, but

legal institutions such as the police and FBI cannot use sodium pentathol and other so-called truth serums. I don't think it's a torture issue, though. It's more of a they-don't-work-and-often-lead-to-faulty-and-inadmissible-evidence thing.

As for the CIA and our military interrogators... well, I don't think they're allowed to under Geneva, but that hasn't necessarily stopped them of late.

Any reason you're asking?

[.... callchet ....]

8. Just trying to broaden my base..

If I don't know something, I ask. Makes me look stupid a lot, but I always have to ask if I don't know.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

9. I wish I had more students like you.

[shraby]

14. If I remember right, using drugs on a prisoner

violates the Geneva Convention.

[Bergeret]

16. I assume they are not permitted.

Unless the patient consents first.

[undertheboardwalk]

17. consent needed i think

It would seem you need consent.

I have another question if anyone can answer.. Is Corporal Punishment on U.S. School Children considered torture under the geneva convention?

Read the ACLU report.. A violent Education...Makes ya think!
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/62078/section/1