Scopolamine: not your lil' friend

We had heard about a drug in Colombia that essentially eliminates free-will in humans. It is called scopolamine and it seemed to us to be so completely out there--like a plot device in an awful Jack Black movie. In fact, it sounded so horrible and strange that we wanted to go down and try it out. So the producers and I compiled a laundry list of embarrassing chores for me to complete while under the influence and, chuckling hysterically to ourselves, got on a plane and headed for Bogota, Colombia.

Once we landed in the Colombian capital, it took all of about 60 minutes to realize there wasn't going to be any more laughing. The fear that the mere mention of scopolamine struck in the locals was palpable and startling. As we dug deeper into this drug's story, following the evolution of the plant and its uses, we began to appreciate the gravity of ingesting it. And we became fearful.

Seriously? People flew to Bogota in order to try scopolamine on purpose? Because "we heard about it"? Really?

The video is hosted on CNN.com, with this disclaimer:

The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers.

Apparently the "reporting process" for learning about the effects of scopolamine starts with "sending a video crew to Bogota" instead of "using a search engine." Hilarious! Anyway, despite the fact that CNN.com just re-ran this with a date stamp of April 7, 2010, the original VBS video was published and widely covered back in 2007 - but apparently the scourge of scopolamine zombies is a story as timeless as the girl who could fly on LSD but didn't think to try it while standing on the ground.