Statute U.S.C. § 678 provides that it is an unlawful act for any person to ‘knowingly develop, produce, otherwise acquire, transfer directly or indirectly, receive, stockpile, retain, own possess or use or threaten to use any chemical weapon’. Chemical weapon is defined as ‘a toxic chemical and its precursors …any chemical which through chemical action on life processes can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals…includes all such chemicals, regardless of their origin or of their method of production and regardless of whether they are produced in facilities, in munitions of elsewhere.’ Purposes not prohibited by the statute include ‘peaceful purposes – any peaceful purpose related to an industrial, agricultural,
