People lie about drugs almost as much as they lie about sex, love, and money. Lying is an essential part of using drugs. If drug users didn’t lie, they’d have to give up drugs. They have to lie to their families. They have to lie to police and probation officers. They lie about how much they’re using. They lie about how much they’ve spent on drugs. They lie about what they’ve done to get the money to pay for drugs. They lie about having stopped. If you’re worried about someone’s drug or alcohol use, these are the questions you want answers to. The problem is that when you ask the questions, they’re most likely drunk, or high on cocaine, or stoned, or nodding off on heroin or Percocets, or zoned out on Klonopin or Xanax. Does this intoxication help or hinder your search for the truth? The answer is: Both, depending on which substance we’re talking about. The Romans said, In vino, veritas—in wine, truth. Substances like alcohol, BZs (benzodiazepines such as Valium, Klonopin, Ativan and Xanax), and narcotics (such as heroin, Vicodin, Percocets), and barbiturates are central nervous system depressants. They’re called that not because they make people feel blue but because they depress the electrical activity of the brain. All of them act to some extent like truth serum. Truth serum really exists. Here’s how it works. A small amount of a rapid-acting barbiturate or benzodiazepine (similar to the kinds of medication anesthesiologists use to put you to sleep) is injected into the subject’s vein. It reaches the brain within seconds and reduces the activity of centers involved in anxiety and inhibitions. Unfortunately, it affects the entire brain to some extent, so that the patient may appear drunk. He’s sleepy and his speech is slurred. He may be emotionally giddy. The skill lies in achieving a balance: too little of the drug and the person’s inhibitions won’t be lowered enough for him to spill the beans; too much and the person falls asleep or is so impaired that his brain can’t function well enough to answer questions. Applied carefully, in a controlled setting, truth serum works. The person worries less about what he’s saying, can’t figure out the consequences of what he tells the questioner, and doesn’t care much about them anyway. The hope is, with these barriers down, he’ll blurt out the truth. And he often does. The bad news is that he’ll often blurt out a whole lot of other stuff, too. When I’ve seen the technique used, results have been disappointing and the answers to questions often difficult to interpret. As anyone who’s tried to question a drunk can attest, intoxicated people certainly have a ‘What the Hell?’ attitude;  but this same lack of inhibition that loosens them up also makes them unreliable reporters. They fabricate what they can’t exactly remember; they exaggerate; they lose track of the question; they kid around; they tell you what they think you want to hear. In the case of heroin and marijuana, the user is too withdrawn and uninterested to be a real participant in a question and answer session. The bottom line: Alcohol (and to a lesser extent BZs) acts as a truth serum; but it’s a double-edged sword. The intoxicated person is impulsive and more likely to blurt out the truth; but he’s just as likely to give you a load of garbage. Drugs belonging to the other group, the central nervous system stimulants, are lie enhancers. They are drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines like crystal meth (the family also includes Ritalin and Adderall prescribed for ADHD but diverted for illicit use, particularly on college campuses), and hybrids such as ecstasy. Like Viagra, they enhance the blood supply to the target organ, turbo charging that part’s function. They increase the supply of the chemical dopamine, a brain transmitter involved in alertness and pleasure. They decrease anxiety, so that the liar high on cocaine feels less guilt and apprehension about being found out: therefore he lies more confidently. By increasing mental alertness and information processing capacity, they help the liar keep track of stories he’s told before, and compute the implications of the story he’s telling now, increasing consistency. But stimulants come with a downside, too. They encourage over-confidence and recklessness, so that people are inclined to lie when they don’t have to, just for the thrill of it. They have a tendency to tell more elaborate lies that are more likely to include inconsistencies. And since the person high on cocaine or crystal meth feels like he’s Superman, he’s not well grounded in reality to begin with, and his lies tend to be boastful and grandiose—over the top. For all these reasons, professionals try to avoid interrogating people who are intoxicated, whether with depressants or stimulants. In the case of the drunk, you’re dealing with a machine that is partially broken. In the case of stimulants, you have to contend with a machine that’s running way faster than it’s designed to go. Skilled practitioners know that both the drunk and the crack head have vulnerabilities that can be exploited, but generally it’s smarter to wait until they’ve sobered up and come down to earth.
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