Stories on that date back to 1990. First I heard of it.
I’d buy a new one for each trip back to Uganda, then leave it with a bush medical clinic when I left.
IIRC, they cost less than $40 back in the late 1980s - early ‘90s.
I figured that before I tried it on a local villager, I should know what it felt like. I tried it on my calf - quite a buzz, but not too bad.
Better than loosing a limb or your life. We had cobras, black & green mambas, puff adders, boomslangs, etc.