Rick Anthony, a former police officer with the Victoria Police Force in Victoria, British Columbia, remembers when their options were limited. "Your gun was your distance weapon and your baton was your close-up weapon. Your mouth was both."

Pepper Spray The R.C.M.P. call it OC spray. Also called Oleoresin Capsicum. When sprayed, it works by inflaming the membranes of the nose, throat and lungs. Effects can last up to 45 minutes. Those sprayed have said it feels like torture. It causes everything from runny nose, gagging, shortness of breath, and can lead to momentary blindness. According to Sgt. Richard Groulx, a national training co-ordinator for the R.C.M.P. in Ottawa, there is no direct medical proof that the spray itself causes death. He believes the problems stem more from pre-existing conditions such as asthma. The California branch of the American Civil Liberties has linked pepper spray directly to twenty-seven deaths in that state alone. Some U.S. newspapers have come up with much higher totals from time to time. 

From Amnesty International - Since 1990, more than 100 people in the USA are reported to have died after being subjected to pepper spray. While many of the deaths have been attributed to other causes, such as positional asphyxia or drug intoxication, Amnesty International is concerned that pepper spray may have been a contributory factor in some cases.

It would be impossible for police to assess whether the antagonist is suffering from asthma, positional asphyxia, drug intoxication, or any other illness or condition potentially lethal in conjunction with a pepper spray deployment. Therefore, the act of pepper spray deployment will always serve to potentially inflict upon the victim a lethal outcome, in any given circumstance. 

It is the opinion of APBnow that pepper spray be subjected to a complete and immediate ban for use by police officers in Canada and the United States.