
The Swindled Samaritan - wallflower
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/magazine/the-swindled-samaritan.html
======
sleazebreeze
I'm not trying to cast any doubt on this author's story, but Snopes regards
this particular drug story as "False" [1]. This seems too crazy to be 100%
true.

Could it be that nobody knows how this drug really works? According to
Wikipedia, NASA is using this drug as a counter to motion sickness [2].

What's even more strange is that the credited author of the story is not the
actual author. At the end it says it was told to Daniel Krieger, who
ostensibly wrote the article.

Something doesn't smell right about this whole thing.

[1]
[http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/burundanga.asp](http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/burundanga.asp)

[2]
[http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=38893](http://spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=38893)

~~~
gilleain
The part of the story that Snopes marks false is its use _in the US_ :

> While burundanga is a frightening drug, in all our searching for information
> on it we failed to come across news articles about its being used in the
> U.S. The regions in and around the country of Colombia appear to be its
> hunting grounds.

On the other hand, it still sounds fairly unlikely as a story.

~~~
jzone3
Wired reported on it in 2011. Seems like a real thing.
[http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/04/start/mind-c...](http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/04/start/mind-
controller)

~~~
david-given
It's not much of a report. No references, no names and dates, packed full of
appeals to authority, and appallingly vague. It sounds like something someone
knocked together in 30 minutes after reading some urban legends, TBH.

I'd have thought that if this were a real thing, it'd be way better known -
the psychiatric industry would be committing minor flesh wound to get their
hands on it, for example. A drug that can suppress free will while leaving the
patient conscious and responsive could revolutionise therapy.

~~~
damienkatz
For therapeutic use the drug has to work reliably and predictably. For
criminal use it only has to work sometimes.

Though I agree the whole thing sounds made up.

------
mjevans
The stuff that happened to this guy makes the precautions that 'mad eye moody'
in Harry Potter took seem sensible. Never accepting /anything/ from strangers
and distrusting absolutely everybody...

It really makes me want to have a stronger social safety net. Designated, on
the job, monitored for safety, public service workers who ensure basic aid and
dignity is offered to all. It would be nice if this is what a 'peace force'
did.

------
ptaipale
This story sounded like one where to google for "burundanga" at snopes.com
seems the appropriate action.

[http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/burundanga.asp](http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/burundanga.asp)

NYT actually thinks it's true?

Edit: sleazebreeze had same thoughts a couple of minutes earlier.

~~~
bm1362
At the end of the day, it's very clear this is a story from a young woman as
relayed to the author. NYT isn't making any kind of claim otherwise.
Additionally, the snopes article cites the State Department giving warnings
about the drug in Colombia, Thailand - snopes only doubts it's prevalence in
the US.

~~~
gus_massa
I have been receiving similar emails with warning in Argentina from years. The
story is similar with very few details, and from country to country the usual
variation is the name of the shopping mall were the events allegedly happened.

A few month ago the newspapers in Argentina begun to report some cases, but
without any study that confirm the cases. See for example:
[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1738748-burundanga-la-droga-
que-a...](http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1738748-burundanga-la-droga-que-asusta-a-
todos-pero-que-aun-nadie-vio) (autotraslation:
[https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev...](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lanacion.com.ar%2F1738748-burundanga-
la-droga-que-asusta-a-todos-pero-que-aun-nadie-vio&edit-text=&act=url) )

I still classify this as a hoax.

On a related note, one problem with Wikipedia is that it assumes that the
newspapers do some fact checking so they can be used as references, but they
sometimes publish stories without any proofs like in this case.

~~~
ptaipale
> _On a related note, one problem with Wikipedia is that it assumes that the
> newspapers do some fact checking so they can be used as references_

And not just Wikipedia, of course. Others have the same problem.

<rant>

People generally tend to trust their preferred sources too much. This seems to
be worse in social media, where people have even less exposure to views that
are different from their own.

</rant>

