"Non-Lethal" Biological and Chemical Weapons Preventing the Development and Use of Drugs as Weapons Some of the medicines that are used to put people to sleep for surgery and to relieve pain, aqmong other applications, can also be used as a weapon. Long-standing fears about (secret) military interest in such weapons were dramatically confirmed by the disaster at the Dubrrovka Theatre in Moscow in 2002, when more than 100 hostages (as well as guerillas) were killed by a "non-lethal" agent pumped into the theater by Russian special forces. Other applications of such biochemical weapons could be on enemy troops, rioters, freedom fighters, terrorists, political protesters, and even prisoners. The development of these weapons presents a grave threat to both the Biological and the Chemical Weapons Conventions, which frequently overlap in this area. Since 2000, the Sunshine Project has been a leading source of information on often secretive programs to develop so-called non-lethal biochemical weapons. We have worked to document interest in such weapons in countries including France, the United Kingdom, and - especially - the United States. Our Freedom of Information Act discoveries about these weapons have repeatedly made international headlines. In addition to obtaining information and publicizing these dangerous programs, the Sunshine Project is seeking ways to ensure that the treaty prohibitions on these weapons are upheld