Tear gas safety and usage practices

Abstract

While the U.N. Chemical Weapons Convention bans tear gas and other chemical weapons from use in war, their use is still allowed in domestic policing. Public concern about tear gas utilization increases when social justice protesters are subjected to these chemical demonstration control agents. The history of tear gas utilization by law enforcement in the U.S. is rife with corruption and racist intent. Furthermore, the scientific evidence supporting the safety of tear gas is lacking due to both the misinterpretation of public health studies and the paucity of controlled experiments. We find that the current utilization of tear gas is a threat to public health, free speech, and possibly falls outside of the exception for domestic use. We discuss policy alternatives that include alternative crowd control methods, changes to protocols for tear gas deployment and post-use review, increased regulatory oversight, and the possibility of a complete tear gas ban.