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The Central Intelligence Agency held two major
interests in use of L.S.D. to alter normal behavior patterns. The
first interest centered around obtaining information from prisoners of
war and enemy agents, in contravention of the Geneva Accords. The
second was to deter the effectiveness of drugs used against the enemy
on the battlefield.
The MK-ULTRA program was originally run by a small number of people
within the CIA known as the Technical Services Staff (TSS). Another
CIA department, the Office of Security, also began its own testing
program. Friction arose and then infighting broke out when the Office
of Security commenced to spy on TSS people after it was learned that
LSD was being tested on unwitting Americans.
Not only did the two branches disagree over the issue of testing the
drug on the unwitting, they also disagreed over the issue of how the
drug was actually to be used by the CIA. The office of Security
envisioned the drug as an interrogation weapon. But the TSS group
thought the drug could be used to help destabilize another country, it
could be slipped into the food or beverage of a public official in
order to make him behave foolishly or oddly in public. One CIA
document reveals that L.S.D. could be administered right before an
official was to make a public speech.
Realizing that gaining information about the drug in real life
situations was crucial to exploiting the drug to its fullest, TSS
started conducting experiments on its own people. There was an
extensive amount of self-experimentation. The Office of Security felt
the TSS group was playing with fire, especially when it was learned
that TSS was prepared to spike an annual office Christmas party punch
with LSD, the Christmas party of the CIA. L.S.D. could produce serious
insanity for periods of eight to 18 hours and possibly longer.
One of the "victims" of the punch was agent Frank Olson. Having never
had drugs before, L.S.D. took its toll on Olson. He reported that,
every automobile that came by was a terrible monster with fantastic
eyes, out to get him personally. Each time a car passed he would
huddle down against a parapet, terribly frightened. Olson began to
behave erratically. The CIA made preparation to treat Olson at
Chestnut Lodge, but before they could, Olson checked into a New York
hotel and threw himself out from his tenth story room. The CIA was
ordered to cease all drug testing.
Mind control drugs and experiments were torturous to the victims. One
of three inmates who died in Vacaville Prison in July was scheduled to
appear in court in an attempt to stop forced administration of a drug,
the very drug that may have played a role in his death.
Joseph Cannata believed he was making progress and did not need forced
dosages of the drug Haldol. The Solano County Coroner's Office said
that Cannata and two other inmates died of hyperthermia, extremely
elevated body temperature. Their bodies all had at least 108 degrees
temperature when they died. The psychotropic drugs they were being
forced to take will elevate body temperature.
Dr. Ewen Cameron, working at McGill University in Montreal, used a
variety of experimental techniques, including keeping subjects
unconscious for months at a time, administering huge electroshocks and
continual doses of L.S.D.
Massive lawsuits developed as a result of this testing, and many of
the subjects who suffered trauma had never agreed to participate in
the experiments. Such CIA experiments infringed upon the much-honored
Nuremberg Code concerning medical ethics. Dr. Camron was one of the
members of the Nuremberg Tribunal.
L.S.D. research was also conducted at the Addiction Research Center of
the U.S. Public Health Service in Lexington, Kentucky. This
institution was one of several used by the CIA. The National Institute
of Mental Health and the U.S. Navy funded this operation. Vast
supplies of L.S.D. and other hallucinogenic drugs were required to
keep the experiments going. Dr. Harris Isbell ran the program. He was
a member of the Food and Drug Administration's Advisory Committee on
the Abuse of Depressant and Stimulants Drugs. Almost all of the
inmates were black. In many cases, L.S.D. dosage was increased daily
for 75 days.
Some 1500 U.S. soldiers were also victims of drug experimentation.
Some claimed they had agreed to become guinea pigs only through
pressure from their superior officers. Many claimed they suffered from
severe depression and other psychological stress.
One such soldier was Master Sergeant Jim Stanley. L.S.D. was put in
Stanley's drinking water and he freaked out. Stanley's hallucinations
continued even after he returned to his regular duties. His service
record suffered, his marriage went on the rocks and he ended up
beating his wife and children. It wasn't until 17 years later that
Stanley was informed by the military that he had been an L.S.D.
experiment. He sued the government, but the Supreme Court ruled no
soldier could sue the Army for the L.S.D. experiments. Justice William
Brennen disagreed with the Court decision. He wrote, "Experimentation
with unknowing human subjects is morally and legally unacceptable."
Private James Thornwell was given L.S.D. in a military test in 1961.
For the next 23 years he lived in a mental fog, eventually drowning in
a Vallejo swimming pool in 1984. Congress had set up a $625,000 trust
fund for him. Large scale L.S.D. tests on American soldiers were
conducted at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, Fort Benning,
Georgia, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, and in
Europe and the Pacific. The Army conducted a series of L.S.D. tests at
Fort Bragg in North Carolina. The purpose of the tests were to
ascertain how well soldiers could perform their tasks on the
battlefield while under the influence of L.S.D. At Fort McClellan,
Alabama, 200 officers in the Chemical Corps were given L.S.D. in order
to familiarize them with the drug's effects. At Edgewood Arsenal,
soldiers were given L.S.D. and then confined to sensory deprivation
chambers and later exposed to a harsh interrogation sessions by
intelligence people. In these sessions, it was discovered that
soldiers would cooperate if promised they would be allowed to get off
the L.S.D.
In Operation Derby Hat, foreign nationals accused of drug trafficking
were given L.S.D. by the Special Purpose Team, with one subject
begging to be killed in order to end his ordeal. Such experiments were
also conducted in Saigon on Viet Cong POWs. One by the Special Purpose
Team, with one subject begging to be killed in order to end his
ordeal. Such experiments were also conducted in Saigon on Viet Cong
POWs. One of the most potent drugs in the U.S. arsenal is called BZ or
quinuclidinyl benzilate. It is a long-lasting drug and brings on a
litany of psychotic experiences and almost completely isolates an
The BZ experiments were conducted on soldiers at Edgewood Arsenal for
16 years. Many of the "victims" claim that the drug permanently
affected their lives in a negative way. It so disorientated one
paratrooper that he was found taking a shower in his uniform and
smoking a cigar. BZ was eventually put in hand grenades and a 750
pound cluster bomb. Other configurations were made for mortars,
artillery and missiles. The bomb was tested in Vietnam and CIA
documents indicate it was prepared for use by the U.S. in the event of
large-scale civilian uprisings.
In Vacaville, psychosurgery has long been a policy. In one set of
cases, experimental psychosurgery was conducted on three inmates, a
black, a Chicano and a white person. This involved the procedure of
pushing electrodes deep into the brain in order to determine the
position of defective brain cells, and then shooting enough voltage
into the suspected area to kill the defective cells. One prisoner, who
appeared to be improving after surgery, was released on parole, but
ended up back in prison. The second inmate became violent and there is
no information on the third inmate.
Vacaville also administered a "terror drug" Anectine as a way of
"suppressing hazardous behavior". In small doses, Anectine serves as a
muscle relaxant; in huge does, it produces prolonged seizure of the
respiratory system and a sensation "worse than dying". The drug goes
to work within 30 to 40 seconds by paralyzing the small muscles of the
fingers, toes, and eyes, and then moves into the the intercostal
muscles and the diaphragm. The heart rate subsides to 60 beats per
minute, respiratory arrest sets in and the patient remains completely
conscious throughout the ordeal, which lasts two to five minutes. The
experiments were also used at Atascadero.
Several mind altering drugs were originally developed for
non-psychoactive purposes. Some of these drugs are Phenothiazine and
Thorzine. The side effects of these drugs can be a living hell. The
impact includes the feeling of drowsiness, disorientation, shakiness,
dry mouth, blurred vision and an inability to concentrate. Drugs like
Prolixin are described by users as "sheer torture" and "becoming a
zombie".
The Veterans Administration Hospital has been shown by the General
Accounting Office to apply heavy dosages of psychotherapeutic drugs.
One patient was taking eight different drugs, three antipsychotic, two
anti-anxiety, one antidepressant, one sedative and one anti-Parkinson.
Three of these drugs were being given in dosages equal to the maximum
recommended. Another patient was taking seven different drugs. One
report tells of a patient who refused to take the drug. "I told them I
don't want the drug to start with, they grabbed me and strapped me
down and gave me a forced intramuscular shot of Prolixin. They gave me
Artane to counteract the Prolixin and they gave me Sinequan, which is
a kind of tranquilizer to make me calm down, which over calmed me, so
rather than letting up on the medication, they then gave me Ritalin to
pep me up."
Prolixin lasts for two weeks. One patient describes how the drug does
not calm or sedate nerves, but instead attacks from so deep inside
you, you cannot locate the source of the pain. "The drugs turn your
nerves in upon yourself. Against your will, your resistance, your
resolve, are directed at your own tissues, your own muscles, reflexes,
etc.." The patient continues, "The pain grinds into your fiber, your
vision is so blurred you cannot read. You ache with restlessness, so
that you feel you have to walk, to pace. And then as soon as you start
pacing, the opposite occurs to you, you must sit and rest. Back and
forth, up and down, you go in pain you cannot locate. In such wretched
anxiety you are overwhelmed because you cannot get relief even in
breathing."
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