Ep 5. Positively Poisonous, Medusa's Heroin, Beauty and Brains

In season 2 episode 5 of Dark Matters: Twisted but True, titled "Positively Poisonous, Medusa's Heroin, Beauty, and Brains," the show explores three different stories of scientific experimentation that went terribly wrong.

The first story is about a woman named Mary Mallon, also known as "Typhoid Mary," who was an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid fever in the early 1900s. Mallon unknowingly spread the disease to multiple people, causing multiple outbreaks. Although she was quarantined multiple times, she still refused to stop working as a cook, and would continue to infect others with the disease. This led to the development of the concept of an asymptomatic carrier and the necessity for quarantine of such individuals.

The second story focuses on a scientist named Harry J. Anslinger who became obsessed with the idea of a "truth serum." Anslinger believed that this serum could be used to extract confessions from criminals and make them more truthful. However, his experiments with the drug scopolamine ended up being highly unethical and failed to produce the results he wanted. Ultimately, Anslinger's obsession with the truth serum led him to become the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, where he pushed for the prohibition of marijuana and other drugs.

The third and final story in this episode is about the infamous Medusa, a synthetic drug created in the 1960s that was supposed to be a safer alternative to heroin. However, Medusa ended up being far more dangerous, causing hallucinations, brain damage, and even death. The drug was partly responsible for the downfall of the counterculture movement and the toughening of drug laws in the United States.

Overall, this episode of Dark Matters explores the dangers of scientific experimentation and serves as a warning about the unintended consequences that can arise from scientific advancement.