| Peppers have been used for defense purposes for | | | | Developed by the Indian military, this weapon is |
| thousands of years. The use of a powder made | | | | made of the "ghost chili" or "bhut jolokia," a |
| from hot peppers to blind one's enemies has been | | | | thumb-sized hot pepper. Listed by Guinness World |
| documented in ancient Japan, China, and India, where | | | | Records as the spiciest chili in the world, the pepper |
| cayenne peppers were the most frequently used | | | | is grown in northeast India where it is used to flavor |
| variety. In Japan, this method was known as a | | | | dishes and cure stomach problems. Other uses for |
| Metsubishi box; it was used by the police, who would | | | | the ghost pepper include inducing perspiration as a |
| blow the chili powder into the eyes of convicted | | | | remedy for summer heat; the smell is also known to |
| criminals. | | | | keep wild elephants and other animals away. Perhaps |
| With the advent of modern, aerosol-can pepper | | | | surprisingly, this potent pepper is regularly eaten in |
| sprays in the 1960s and 1970s, many of these older | | | | India, although there are also reports of westerners |
| methods of using peppers for self defense died out | | | | unfamiliar with the pepper being sent to the hospital |
| as they were surpassed by more powerful dispersion | | | | after attempting to eat one. |
| methods. Because the chemical in hot peppers, | | | | The heat of spicy peppers is rated in Scoville Heat |
| capsaicin, was isolated in the 1960s, today's pepper | | | | Units. Tabasco sauce is 2,500 to 5,000 SHU, while |
| sprays tend to be many times hotter than the | | | | jalapenos measure up to 8,000. The Bhut jolokia has |
| weapons made centuries ago by grinding peppers | | | | more than a million Scoville units. Said to be powerful |
| into powder. | | | | enough to stop a charging elephant, one test pegged |
| Still, natural peppers continue to be developed for | | | | the three-inch-long pepper at 1,041,427 Scoville Heat |
| use in defense sprays all over the world. One of the | | | | Units, twice as hot as the next-hottest tested |
| newest pepper-based weapons comes out of India, | | | | pepper. |
| and is based on the hottest known chili pepper in the | | | | Unlike most modern pepper sprays, these weapons |
| world. Plans involve using these peppers to make | | | | will be based on natural peppers, rather than |
| military-grade hand grenades carrying pepper-based | | | | lab-created chemicals. Still, they are so strong that it |
| tear gas that will be used to immobilize suspects and | | | | is believed that the smell of the pepper will be |
| dispel riots. Plans are also in place to use the same | | | | enough to scare terrorists out of their hideouts. Like |
| pepper to produce police-grade sprays to control and | | | | commercial pepper sprays, this notoriously hot |
| disperse mobs, as well as self defense sprays for | | | | pepper is non-toxic and does not cause long-term |
| women to carry. While still in development, Indian | | | | symptoms, despite the painful affects of ingesting or |
| scientists say the chili-based weapon will immobilize | | | | inhaling it. The Bhut jolokia contains extremely high |
| but not kill targets, working in a similar manner as | | | | levels of capsaicin, the chemical that is synthesized |
| regular pepper sprays but with a much more | | | | for commercial pepper sprays. |
| concentrated chemical. | | | | |