Central Nervous System-acting chemicals and the Chemical Weapons Convention: A former Scientific Adviser’s perspective

The term Incapacitating Chemical Agents (or Incapacitants) was chosen to describe different classes of chemical warfare agents that were being developed in the 1950s. This article considers some of the types of chemicals and their properties that have been discussed more recently under the terminology of Incapacitating Chemical Agents, including opioids of the fentanyl class, and how these psychochemicals are relevant to the Chemical Weapons Convention. This article argues that the term Incapacitating Chemical Agents is inaccurate and misleading and will be a potential cause of confusion when Member States of the Chemical Weapons Convention are discussing the types of toxic chemicals which are permitted for use for various law enforcement purposes including domestic riot control. This article then argues that the term Central Nervous System-acting chemicals is a more accurate and appropriate description of psychochemicals such as the fentanyls, and use of this term will hopefully facilitate a more constructive discussion within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). In other words, it is important to ‘get the science clearly understood first’, to enable a more constructive discussion by policy-makers, lawyers and military experts.