As proof that there’s an organization for just about everyone, the defensive aerosol spray filler, supplier and distributor contingent formed the Association of Defensive Spray Manufacturers. While we probably won’t be going to a ADSM conventions any time in the near future (you don’t have to worry about a riot breaking at one of their meetings), we did find their website to have some interesting information about the history of defensive sprays such as:

• The use of chemical weapons dates back thousands of years. In 428 BC Spartans burned wood saturated with pitch and sulfur to create toxic fumes. Also around that time the Chinese filled bags with pepper and spices to fling at their enemies. (Ed. note: If you got hit in the face with one of those Chinese spice bags, would you be hungry for another one about an hour later?)
• Law enforcement agencies began using tear gas after World War II, especially as a riot control agent, and it is still in use today.
• Oleoresin capsicum spray was developed at the University of Georgia by Professor James H. Jenkins and veterinarian Frank Hayes in 1960. That formula under the brand name Halt Animal Repellant was first sold in 1963.

Filed under: Uncategorized by RunSafety Pepper Spray Administrator Monday, November 22nd, 2010