Pat Dollard

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There is no use for Ricin other than as an agent of death. Fox News is reporting that 3 of the peole exposed are cops.

Reports as of 10:00 AM PST are that one of those people is gravely ill.

LAS VEGAS – Ricin, a deadly poison, was discovered in a hotel room in Las Vegas but is not thought to be terrorism related, police and FBI officials said on Friday.

A Las Vegas police spokeswoman said officers were called to an Extended Stay America Hotel on Thursday after a suspicious substance was reported in one of the rooms.

Preliminary tests indicated the substance was ricin, which can be deadly even in small quantities. Results from further tests were expected later on Friday.

Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating along with the Las Vegas police. “This event does not appear to be terrorism related,” FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in a statement.

Three police officers, three hotel employees and another person were taken to the hospital for testing and observation on Thursday but were released on Friday in good health, police said.

Ricin is made from castor beans and in proper doses can be used for cancer treatments. It attacks cells, preventing them from making necessary proteins, and an amount the size of a grain of salt can be deadly.

In 2003 an envelope containing ricin was sent to the White House but was intercepted by the Secret Service. Ricin also was found in a similar envelope at a South Carolina postal facility.

It also was detected in a Senate mailroom in 2004.

In 1978 dissident Bulgarian writer Georgi Markov was killed after a passerby in London jabbed him with an umbrella that injected a tiny ricin-filled pellet.

(Reuters)