Originally posted by Muffin
I've heard that a few drops of Visine in a drink will give someone the runs real bad.
http://www.snopes.com/toxins/visine.asp
Claim: A few drops of Visine brand eye drops taken internally will cause diarrhea.
Status: False.
A drink spiked with Visine not only won't produce diarrhea in the one unfortunate enough to drink the concoction, but ingestion of the product is downright dangerous, making this "harmless" form of retaliation fraught with hazard.
The active ingredient in Visine eye drops is Tetrahydrozoline HCl 0.05%. Swallowing this substance can result in a number of nasty effects, including:
* Lowering body temperature to dangerous levels
* Making breathing difficult, or even halting it entirely
* Blurring vision
* Causing nausea and vomiting
* Elevating and then dropping blood pressure
* Causing seizures or tremors
* Sending the ingester into a coma
One thing tetrahydrozoline has not been known to do is to cause sudden onset bouts of severe diarrhea. Yet if Visine doesn't cause diarrhea, it has done things far more terrible. Drinking it can (and has) caused severe depression of the central nervous system.
In October 2003 an unnamed Southern California high school student put eye drops in teacher's water bottle in an attempt to give his instructor severe diarrhea. Others in the class who saw the act removed the adulterated beverage before the intended victim could drink it. The student responsible has been charged with tampering with a drink with intent to cause harm.
Revenge seekers still not quite convinced that a Visine mickey finn won't produce the diarrheal results they crave, or that the drinking of such a potion could potentially result in a life-threatening medical crisis in the object of their prank, should consider one final fact:
the act of secreting noxious substances in ingestibles for the purpose of bringing harm to others is called poisoning.