Editing Non-lethal weapon (section)

==Gases and sprays==
{{Further|Incapacitating agent}}

===Water===
[[File:Wasserwerfer.jpg|thumb|Water cannon during a German demonstration, 2001]]

[[Water cannon]]s are commonly used in crowd and riot control, for dispersal or to prevent movement on a particular position. These water cannons are intended to disperse crowds with little risk of harm, but the pressure can still cause eye injuries or even death. Water-filled rounds for small arms are in experimental stages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Health Impacts of Crowd-Control Weapons: Water Cannons |url=https://phr.org/our-work/resources/health-impacts-of-crowd-control-weapons-water-cannons/ |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=PHR |language=en-US}}</ref>
[[Water cannon#Electrified water cannon|Electrified water cannons]] were in development but was abandoned.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

===Scent-based weapons===
[[Malodorant]]s produce strong odours that cause people to leave the affected area.  In 2008, the [[Israeli Defence Forces]] began using [[Skunk (weapon)|Skunk]] for crowd control. It is a form of mist sprayed from a water cannon, which leaves a terrible odor of rot or sewage on whatever it touches, and does not wash off easily.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7646894.stm|title=New Israeli weapon kicks up stink|date=2008-10-02|access-date=2019-06-10|language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Pepper spray===
The active ingredient in [[pepper spray]] is oleoresin capsicum (OC), an acrid irritant chemical derived from [[cayenne pepper]] plants.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/162358.pdf |title=Evaluation of Pepper Spray |last1=Edwards |first1=Steven M. |last2=Granfield |first2=John |last3=Onnen |first3=Jamie |date=February 1997 |publisher=National Institute of Justice |work=Research in Brief |access-date=August 6, 2013}}</ref>

A 1998 estimate by the [[International Association of Chiefs of Police]] suggested at least 113 pepper spray-related fatalities had occurred in the United States, all with aggravating factors such as intoxication, pre-existing health problems, or from the police use of airway-restrictive immobilizing holds that can cause [[positional asphyxia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.terryjallen.com/journo-subP/teargas.htm |title=Tear Gas: Chemical Cops |last=Allen |first=Terry J. |work=In These Times |date=May 29, 2000 |access-date=October 4, 2011}}</ref> The Southern California chapter of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] recommends against maximal prone restraint techniques following pepper spray application, and they caution that anyone sprayed should be monitored to ensure effective breathing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aclu-sc.org/attach/p/Pepper_Spray_New_Questions.pdf |title=Pepper Spray Update: More Fatalities, More Questions |publisher=ACLU of Southern California |date=June 1995 |access-date=October 4, 2011 |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929133130/http://www.aclu-sc.org/attach/p/Pepper_Spray_New_Questions.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Tear gas===
[[File:VPD anti-riot officers.jpg|thumb|Vancouver Police Department officers in anti-riot gear and armed with tear gas grenade launchers confront [[2011 Vancouver Stanley Cup riot|Stanley Cup]] rioters.]]
The use of chemical weapons such as [[tear gas]] ([[CS gas|CS]]) and pepper spray ([[Pepper spray|OC]]) has come under increasing scrutiny and criticism due to studies showing serious long term side effects. Many police forces are no longer exposing their members to the chemicals during training.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}<ref>{{Cite journal |title= Tear gas: An epidemiological and mechanistic reassessment|year=2016 |pmc=5096012 |last1=Rothenberg |first1=C. |last2=Achanta |first2=S. |last3=Svendsen |first3=E. R. |last4=Jordt |first4=S. |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume=1378 |issue=1 |pages=96–107 |doi=10.1111/nyas.13141 |doi-access=free |pmid=27391380 |bibcode=2016NYASA1378...96R }}</ref>

Journalist [[Rubén Salazar]] was killed in Los Angeles in 1970 by an errant CS gas canister during the [[Chicano Moratorium|Chicano riots]]. Other serious injuries and fatalities have occurred from either tear gas itself or the projectiles it is delivered in, including the critical injury of veteran Scott Olsen from a tear gas canister during the 2011 Occupy Oakland protests.<ref>{{cite web|title = Oakland Police Critically Injure Iraq War Veteran During Occupy Protest|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/26/iraq-vet-oakland-police-tear-gas_n_1033159.html|website = The Huffington Post|access-date = 2016-01-08|date = 2011-10-26}}</ref>

===Psychochemical===
{{Main|Psychochemical weapons}}
[[Psychochemical weapons]] are psychoactive drugs, such as [[3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate|BZ]], [[LSD]], [[Kolokol-1]], [[EA-3167]], and [[3-Methylamphetamine]] designed to have a disorienting effect when used during combat or interrogation.<ref name=rozsa>Rózsa L 2009. [http://www.zoologia.hu//list/subst.pdf A psychochemical weapon considered by the Warsaw Pact: a research note. ''Substance Use & Misuse,'' '''44,''' 172-178.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721115755/http://www.zoologia.hu//list/subst.pdf |date=2011-07-21 }} accessed: 27. 11. 2009.</ref>

===Sleep gas===
During the 2002 [[Moscow theater hostage crisis]], Russian special forces used an unidentified gas (thought to be [[3-methylfentanyl]] or another [[fentanyl]] variant dissolved in halothane gas) in an attempt to induce sleep in both hostages and terrorists. Many of the hostages and terrorists (including all of the suicide bombers) were anesthetized, but some terrorists donned gas masks and thus were able to avoid the effects of the gas. Because the agent used was a potent Fentanyl derivative (a synthetic opioid), it causes respiratory depression and ultimately respiratory failure if administered in high enough dosages. The central nervous system effects, such as anesthesia and respiratory depression could have been reversed by an opioid antagonist such as [[naloxone]], which is stocked by hospitals and most ambulances. However, because the Russian authorities did not release any information regarding what type of agent was used, medical professionals were unaware that an opioid had been used during the rescue attempt and thus were unable to administer the antidote which could have saved most hostages. Approximately 700 hostages were rescued, while 130 died from exposure to the gas. All the terrorists were ultimately killed by Russian forces through some combination of gas exposure and gunfire.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}

===Other chemical agents===
{{Further|Incapacitating agent}}
[[Blister agent]]s, including [[CR gas]], are less often used riot control agents. Other irritants include [[CS gas]] and [[nonivamide]] (PAVA).{{citation needed|date=April 2022}}