Long-term memory loss
What could I "use" to cause a population wide long-term memory loss.
So far all chemicals that I have read about cause future memory loss. That is to say, if you are exposed to it today, tomorrow you won't be able to form new memories.
But what I need is a chemical of sorts that will cause a population to forget anywhere between a few months to a year in the past, depending on how strong the exposition to the chemical was.
It needs to be propagated by air so that not everyone will suffer the same effects, preferably.
Does such a thing exist or should I just make-up one?
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1 answer
The answer, as far as I can tell, is that there aren't any existing drugs that would do what you want.
Drug-induced amnesia is, of course, a real thing. In your question, you alluded to drugs that cause anterograde amnesia, which involves a reduced ability to form new memories. Alcoholism can cause this, but some drugs - mainly benzodiazepines - can, too. That said, you don't want anterograde amnesia, but retrograde amnesia.
However, there aren't really drugs that cause retrograde amnesia for the time periods you're looking at. Some infamous date rape drugs can cause memory issues, but nothing that long-term; additionally, these only affect memories formed after the drug was administered. Even if you could find a drug that would do this, though, it would still be hard to make it airborne and still reasonably potent for a wide range of people.
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