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Russian Munitions Agency

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Chemical Terrorism

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Chemical Weapons | Facilities of Former CW Production | Facilities of CW Stockpiling and Destruction | CW Destruction Technologies | Safety Problems of CW Stockpiling and Destruction | Chemical Terrorism | Implementation Problems of the CW Convention

Chemical Terrorism

Chemical terrorism is a new threat to the security of mankind which to its scales essentially exceeds the results of use of the most modern firearm.
At present time all over the world threats from radically moodect elements to use radioactive materials, potent poisonous substances and pathogenic microorganisms in terrorist purposes became more frequent.
The most scale acts of terrorism with use of poisonous substances were done by members of the Aum Shinri Kyo religion sect in June of 1994 and March of 1995 in Mitsumoto and Tokyo, when as a result of planned actions 19 persons received the deadly intoxication and about 4 thousand persons received the intoxications of average and light severity rate.
Modern high-toxic chemical substances and biological agents can fall in terrorists hands through wide range of channels:
  • theft from military depots and arsenals, where chemical weapons are stored, as well as from military subfaculty of institutes of corresponding profile;
  • theft from enterprises associated with production of anti-gas equipments;
  • acquisition in the field of production, storage, trade (relates to high-toxic insecticides, herbicides, pharmaceutical preparations of group A, etc.);
  • acquisition in trading network (relates to means of personal chemical protection: gas balloons, etc.);
  • illegal production under conditions of underground laboratories.
Last 10-20 years in medical practice the qualitative growth of synthetic agents, used for treatment of various diseases and posessing by broad spectrum of pharmacological action, is observed. Much to our regret, such preparations, especially in recent years, were made available for unjustified great number of persons, in particular, having criminal propensities. The possibility of their illicit acquisition in illegal laboratories is promoting that.
Psychotropic preparations are capable to cause of various violations of psychical state of human beings. That can be used by criminals for solving their tasks. With the help of pharmacological action it may be possible to increase an effect of taken alcohol (for example, for futher compromising); to reduce mentality clearness (for violation of adequacy of taking important decisions process); to cause loss of memory on events, following after taking the preparation, that could result in (for example, in the case of signing important documents) arising of distrust of business partners in future; to increase trust and abate the self-control during business negotiations; to cause unconsciousness and to paralyze a person with a view to kidnap him; to imitate the accrual of psychical disease. And other variants of use of psychotropic agents with criminal purposes are possible.
The state is aggravated by the fact, that current psychotropic agents possess so high activity, that in certain conditions the instant of their use can remain unnoticed for a victim and surrounding persons.
Therapeutic and toxic doses of biologically active substances in quantitative term are so small, that can be used not only in alcohol and alcohol-free drinks and food stuffs, but also in case of skin application and even in case of inhalation by creating of persistent aerosols. The latter way of spreading of biologically active substance, in principle, may be realized using air conditioning devices, inflow-outflow ventilating systems, etc.