[From Alcohol to Liquid Ecstasy (GHB)--a Survey of Old and Modern Knockout Agents. Part 1: Historic and Classic Knockout Agents]

Alcohol has been the most important knockout drug in history and literature and continues to play an essential role up to now. Blunt force to the head in the form of a knockout punch is another mechanism leading to a transient loss of consciousness. Diethyl ether and chloroform are among the classical knockout substances. Although they have meanwhile been replaced by modern sedatives and hypnotics, their use is still observed in isolated cases.