Written By Kaustubhi BS (Grade 9)
“Honesty is the best policy” is a famous quote that everyone knows but no one uses. The actual fact is that only when a person’s brain is active or working, can a person can tell a lie. But, sometimes truth becomes the key for many problems.
A smart way that people got to know the truth from a person in olden days is by the usage of a truth serum, scientifically known as a psychoactive drug which mainly contains sodium thiopental and amobarbital. It was used for investigation of civil and criminal cases. It is also used as an anaesthetic medicine. It works similarly to alcohol. Due to the effect of the drug, a person losses his/her mental state and thinking capacity. Thus they cannot lie.
This was used as a sleeping medicine in 1950’s. However, later it was found out that a person tells the truth under the medicine. This medicine works until a person falls asleep. After the person comes out of the medicine effect he/she won’t exactly remember what they had said under the medication. It is used in many countries such as Italy and America.
Truth serum is banned in many countries because it is considered as a violation of human right (right to be free from degrading treatment). The serum was abused against psychotic patients as a part of old discredited practices of psychiatry and is no longer used. Reliability and suggestibility of patients are concerns and the practice of chemically inducing an involuntary mental state is now widely considered to be a form of torture. Sodium amytal is powerful sedative and it’s side effect combined with dis-coordination and cognitive impairment is addictive and that’s why soldiers too stopped using truth serum.
All the more no things such as serum or medicine is required if each and everyone knows the language of acceptance of their act and the true value of truth.
Featured Image Courtesy – Anadolu Ajansi
