Lecture14: Ergot of Rye II: The Discovery of LSD and its use by the CIA and Military, and Independent Researchers

Introduction

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide had a major impact on the world during the 1950s and 1960s. It was a mind altering drug that was popular at that time and has had renew popularity beginning in the 1990s. The discovery of LSD, its illicit research and use by several federal entities, research carried out  for beneficial therapeutic use and its eventual rise to becoming the most popular drug among young people during the 1960s to it becoming an illegal drug is an interesting story and is the topic of this chapter.

Discovery of LSD

Claviceps purpurea is best known as the source from which Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) was first synthesized. The acronym is not based on the English name, but rather from LysergSäure Diethylämid, the German name for LSD. It was first synthesized in 1938, by Albert Hofmann (Figures 1-2) who was testing various extracts of lysergic acid, derived from ergot, for a respiratory stimulant.  The idea that ergot could be a source for pharmaceutical drugs was not new. Prior to the discovery of LSD, drugs such as ergotamine and ergonovine were previously extracted from C. purpurea and were/are used to treat migraines, and  to reduce bleeding following child birth and abortions, respectively (Hofmann, 1970; Lee, 2009). 

Hofmann synthesized numerous lysergic acid amide compounds while seeking a circulatory and respiratory stimulant. These compounds were labeled as LSD followed by a number in the order that they had been synthesized. One of the extracts tested was the twenty-fifth extract from ergot, designated as LSD-25, the 25th in this series of synthesized ergot compounds (Hofmann, 1970).  Pharmacological experiments of LSD-25, with laboratory animals were carried out by Hofmann's colleague, Ernst Röthlin who noted an increase in uterine contraction, but this was not unexpected because of the chemical similarity with existing drugs known to induce uterine contraction. An increase in excitation by lab animals was also observed. However, these preliminary results were deemed insignificant and LSD-25 was put aside. 

During the next 5 years Hofmann's research with ergot took him into a new direction. He was able to successfully isolate three alkaloids, two of which were new to science. However, despite his success, Hofmann's thoughts continued to return to LSD-25. He could not rid himself of the feeling that perhaps this compound may have properties that were not discovered when research was carried out on this LSD-25 (Hofmann 1980). Normally, once a drug has been tested and the results proved negative, no further research is carried out on the compound. Thus, it was unusual that during the spring of 1943, Hofmann decided to synthesize a new batch of LSD-25 in order to carry out further tests. It is from this unusual decision by Hofmann that brought about the often repeated story on the discovery of the property of LSD in the media, as well as by Hofmann himself. A story that had made him a mythic figure for young people during the 1960s and beyond (Lee and Schlain, 1987). One retelling of the story by Hofmann, himself, was on October 15, 1977, was described by Barney (1977), Hofmann (1980) and Lee and Schlain (1987) during a colloquium titled "LSD - A Generation Later", sponsored by the Psychology Board of the University of California at Santa Cruz. On this occasion, there were many speakers whose names were well known through their association with LSD. They included Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Ralph Metzner and Allen Ginsberg, but the speaker that the thousands of young people that came to this event to see/hear was Albert Hofmann. Following his introduction, Hofmann received a loud, thunderous, standing ovation that would rival that of a rock star. However, as he walked out onto the stage, he appeared as anything but that. He was 71, at the time, with white, closely cropped hair and was prim and proper, dressed in a conservative blue suit with black shoes. His first words were "You may have expected to meet a guru, but you find instead a chemist." He then began his lecture by giving a rather dry description of the history and chemistry of LSD, complete with molecular structure. Nevertheless, as he continued, the audience appeared enthusiastic and shouted for more. He then went on to tell the story of the accidental discovery of the  property of LSD, on April 16, 1943. The following is a partial transcript as recorded by New Dimensions Radio, which was essentially the same as an article that Hofmann had published earlier (Hofmann, 1970).  

Because I had the feeling that it would be worth while to carry out more profound studies with this compound, I prepared a fresh quantity of LSD in 1943. In the course of this work an accidental observation led me to carry out a planned self-experiment with this compound. The following is an extract of my original report on these experiments, dated April 22, 1943, and addressed to the Head of the Pharmaceutical Department, at that time Professor Stoll (Loud laugher from the audience). 

Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to stop my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and to go home, as I was seized by a peculiar restlessness associated with a sensation of mild dizziness. On arriving home, I lay down and sank into a kind of drunkenness which was not unpleasant and which was characterized by extreme activity of imagination (some laugher). As I lay in a dazed condition with my eyes closed (I experienced daylight as disagreeably bright) there surged upon me an uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity and vividness and accompanied by an intense, kaleidoscope-like play of colors. This condition gradually passed off after about two hours.

The nature and the course of this extraordinary disturbance raised my suspicions that some exogenic intoxication may have been involved and that the Iysergic acid diethylamide with which I had been working that afternoon could have been responsible. I had separated the two isomeric forms that are formed by this synthesis, namely Iysergic diethylamide and isolysergic acid diethylamide and prepared the crystalline water soluble salt of Iysergic acid diethylamide with tartaric acid. However, I could not imagine how this compound could have accidentally found its way into my body in a sufficient quantity to produce such symptoms. Moreover, the nature of the symptoms did not tally with those previously associated with ergot poisoning. In order to get to the root of the matter, I decided to conduct some experiments on myself with the substance in question (some laugher). I started with the lowest dose that might be expected to have any effect, i.e., 0.25 mg LSD. The notes in my laboratory journal read as follows (more louder laugher):

April 19, 1943: Preparation of an 0.5% aqueous solution of d-lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate. 

4:20 P.M.: 0.5 cc (0.25 mg LSD) ingested orally. The solution is tasteless. 

4:50 P.M.: no trace of any effect. 

5:00 P.M.: slight dizziness, unrest, difficulty in concentration, visual disturbances...

At this point, laboratory notes are discontinued (loud laugher from the audience). Yes, with great difficulty. The last verse were only written with  difficulty. I asked my laboratory assistant to accompany me home, as I believe that I should have a repetition of the previous Friday. While we were cycling home, however, it became clear that the symptoms were much stronger than the first time and I had difficulty in speaking coherently.  My field of vision swayed before me and objects appeared distorted before me like images in a curved mirrors. I had the impression that I was unable to move from the spot, although my assistant told me afterward that we had cycled at a good pace. Once I was home, a physician was called. 

By the time the doctor arrived, the peak of the crisis had already passed. The following were the most outstanding symptoms: vertigo, visual disturbances, the faces of those around me appeared as grotesque, colored masks, marked motoric unrest, alternating with paralysis, intermittent heavy feelings in the head, limbs and entire body as if they were  filled with lead. Clear recognition of my condition, in which state, I sometimes observed, in the matter of an independent neutral observer, that I shouted sometimes or babbled incoherent words. Occasionally, I felt as if I were out of my body and wondered if I had already died. In contrast to my subjective feelings, the doctor found, only a somewhat, a weak pulse, but otherwise quite normal circulation and physical condition. After 6 hours of ingestion of the LSD, my psychic condition had already improved considerably. Only the visual disturbances were still pronounced. Everything seem to sway, and the proportions were distorted like the reflection in the surface of moving water. Moreover, all objects appear in unpleasant, constantly changing colors. The predominant shades being sickly green and blue. When I closed my eyes, an unending series of colorful, very realistic and fantastic images surged in upon me. A remarkable feature both in the matter in which all acoustic  perceptions, for example, the noise of a passing car, were transformed into optical effects, every sound evoking a corresponding colored hallucination, constantly changing in shape and color-like picture in a kaleidoscope.  At about 1:00 in the night, I fell asleep and I awoke the next morning feeling perfectly well. Applause. 

This was the first planned experiment with LSD and a rather dramatic one,  as one would say today, because I did not know  if I would return from this very strange world (some laugher). Subsequently, in experiments, on volunteers colleagues, of the Sandoz research laboratory, confirmed the extraordinary activity of LSD on the human psyche. These showed that the effective oral dose in human beings is .03 to .05 mg. In spite of my caution, I had chosen for my first experiment five times the average effective dose. LSD is by far the most active and most specific of all hallucinogens. It is 5,000 to 10,00 times more active than mescaline. This qualitatively produces nearly the same symptoms. The extremely high potency of LSD is not just a curiosity; it is in many respect of the greatest scientific interest. For example, it lent support to the hypothesis that certain mental illnesses that were supposed until then to be purely psychic in nature had a biochemical cause because it now seemed feasible that the undetectable traces of a psychoactive substance produced by the body itself may be the cause of psychic disturbances.

LSD was unique with regard to its extremely high hallucinogenic potency. But it was not new with regard to the quality of its hallucinogenic property. As already mentioned, it produces qualitatively the same psychic effects as mescaline, a hallucinogen known long before LSD, mescaline being the active principle of one of the ancient magic plants of Mexico. Hallucinogenic drugs were of great importance in the old Indian cultures of Central America. The Spanish chroniclers and naturalists who came to the country soon after the conquest of Mexico by Cortes mentioned in their writings a great number of plants with psychic effects. These plants were unknown in the Old World and were used by the Indians both in their medical practices and in their religious ceremonies. The cultic use and divine worship paid to many of these drugs met with the disapproval of the Christian missionaries, who attempted by any means possible to liberate the Indians from this "devilry." They were, fortunately, only partially successful, however, fortunately only successfully, in this respect (some applauds). The native population secretly continued to use the drugs, which they considered to be holy even after they had been converted to Christianity.

End Transcript

A more detailed description of how Hofmann came to work with C. purpurea, his discovery and personal usage of LSD, the first human trials by Werner Stoll to its usage as a recreational drug is described, in his own word, in LSD, My Problem Child. This book is available on the internet, in its entirety. 

After the Hofmann's Discovery of the Impact of LSD

Following this experience Hofmann led a team of researchers who carried out further experiments at Sandoz Laboratory with laboratory animals. Although such experiments yielded useful data such as tolerance and toxicity to LSD, its usefulness concerning alteration of mental states were of limited value since changes in animal psyche that result from LSD were difficult to determine (Hofmann, 1980). However, Hofmann did briefly mention some effects of LSD on aquarium fishes and spiders, and on higher animals such as mice, cats, dogs and chimps (Hofmann, 1980).

Hofmann (1980) and fellow researchers at Sandoz also studied the chemistry of LSD that eventually led to determining its structural formula, and led to determining the structural formula of LSD, which was published in 1951 (Hofmann, 1950). During this period, Hofmann also made various modifications to the structure of LSD. However, none of the modifications would be as psychoactive as the original LSD-25, but some would prove useful pharmacologically.

Human research was followed by the animal studies in order to truly grasp the effects of LSD on the human mind. The first research was carried out at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Zurich by Werner A. Stoll, M.D. (a son of Professor Arthur Stoll, President of Sandoz and colleague of Hofmann). This led to the first publication on LSD, in in 1947 in the Schweizer Archiv fur Neurologie and Psychiatrie journal, under the title "Lysergsäure-diathylämid, ein Phantastikum aus der Mutterkorngruppe" (Lysergic acid diethylamide, a phantasticum from the ergot group). Phantasticum is a category of drugs identified in the 1920s as capable of producing hallucinatory experiences, i.e. hallucinogens.  Stoll’s research involved using psychologically healthy human subjects and those that were schizophrenic. Most test subjects reported to having a euphoric high following ingestion of LSD and did not suffer the negative side effects, such as Hofmann described in his second trial with LSD. Stoll also carried out a self-experiment that was included in his publication. A lengthy, detailed description of his experience was given by Hofmann (1980) that because of its length will not be described here. Useful application of LSD was not determined in this publication, but Sandoz believed that it could have useful medicinal and psychiatric applications and made LSD available to research institutes and physicians under the trade name Delysid. In the letter there were even two suggestions as to experiments that could be pursued. One was that since LSD had the ability to induce psychosis, it may be used as a means to determine the biochemical basis for the cause of schizophrenia. This revelation would become one of the major reasons in conducting further research on LSD (Stevens 1988). The other was more unconventional and suggested that mental health professionals experience LSD to better understand psychosis so that they may better treat their patients. Two years later, another short article, by Stoll entitled "A New Hallucinatory Agent, Active In Very Small Amounts." 

In Hofmann’s discussion of utilizing LSD on patients under psychiatric care, he mentions, but does not emphasize that it is unlike other medication in that it is not utilized to treat any specific problem. This is important to note and I will say more about this later. Instead, he describes LSD as an aid to psychoanalytical and psychotherapeutic treatments, which when used, will shorten the duration of the treatments. One use of LSD that was described, and one that has recently began being used again was its use in terminally ill cancer patients. Such patients are often in a great deal of pain, despite being administer with various pain killing opioids and suffering from depression faced with the prospect to the end of life. The utilization of LSD on these patients greatly alleviated and in many cases eliminated the pain completely (Hofmann, 1980) and also has alleviated depression and fear of death, bringing on a spiritual peace in these patients (Ross, 2018).

LSD Research Carried Out by the CIA  and Military

Unless otherwise cited, the summary of the remaining of this narration on LSD and other psychedelics is from Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain. 1985. Acid Dreams, The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, The Sixties, and Beyond, published by Grover Press. 

Although the publications by Stoll at Sandoz was the first papers to appear concerning LSD, which was followed by numerous publications on worthwhile usage of LSD, not all research would follow this goal. Research distantly related to LSD, but would later significantly involve LSD, had begun during World War II (WWII). William Donovan, who was head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), predecessor of the CIA, in 1942, along with a half dozen well known American scientists began what was then a top secret research project that involved developing a truth inducing drug (Lee and Shlain, 1985). 

The scientists surveyed numerous drugs, some were common and well known, such as alcohol, barbiturates and caffeine and others that were known to be psychoactive, such as peyote, scopolamine and marijuana were tested, with the latter being the mostly likely useful as a speech inducing agent. A highly potent form of marijuana was developed that was colorless, odorless and tasteless and was referred to as TD (truth drug). Although it appeared promising, TD was eventually abandoned because of its very variable effects. It could stimulate a person to answer all questions asked of them quickly, the opposite could also occur, when the person given TD had a paranoid reaction and would not say a word.

The Navy's Project CHATTER

Following WWII, the OSS search for a “truth serum” was picked up by CIA and the military. In 1947, the Navy would begin a program referred to as CHATTER whose goal was to devise a means of extracting information from people without the use of physical means, i.e. beating the truth out of them. Mescaline was tested in this program when it was discovered that during WWII, Nazi doctors were investigating mind control, in Dachau concentration camp, using mescaline. Following the war, the Navy allowed immigration of 600 Nazi scientist who participated in these experiments. Mescaline was eventually concluded to be ineffective as a truth serum and the project was ended in 1953 (Lee and Shlain, 1985).

The CIA's Projects BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE

At the same time that the Navy’s CHATTER project was going on, the CIA also began a project in developing their own interrogation techniques. Various drugs were tried and hypnosis was even utilized in these trials. Some drugs were able to maintain the subject in a “controlled state” where relevant information could be extracted from them. This led to the CIA expanding its circle of expertise to outside investigators, e.g. police department criminologists, medical practitioners, psychiatrists and even hypnotists. This led to the creation of projects referred to as BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE in 1951, both with the common goal of discovering reliable truth inducing drug. Agents were sent in truth drugs and a pharmacopoeia of drugs were studied. Eventually, they would stumble across LSD, along with a number of drugs that were tested. Others included, ether, Benzedrine, alcohol, mescaline and more. It was proposed that test subjects would include civilian, federal prisoners, prisoners of war and even their own agents and members of the military.

In the initial report of LSD that was given to a military officer who was instructed not to reveal an important military secret, he gave all of the information that he was instructed not to reveal, and did not remember revealing the information after the LSD had worn off. This was exactly the goal for the drug that the CIA was searching. With this promising result, the entire CIA hierarchy believed that they had at last found what they believed to be the "Holy Grail" of mind control drug that they were searching for.  However, as research progressed, it was determined that effects of LSD varied with individuals. Information could not always be obtained from people. Some individual experienced a marked anxiety and loss of contact with reality while under the influence of LSD. Others experienced hallucinations which even hindered interrogations. And although most individuals experienced anxiety during an LSD session, some experienced what would be the ultimate draw-back in a mind control drug, a delusion of grandeur and omnipotence. That is, the person being interrogated would become convinced, under the influence of LSD, that he could defy the interrogators indefinitely. When other drugs that were tested and their results did not seem very promising, they were put aside. However, the CIA didn't want to do this with LSD because they felt that this unusual and powerful substance still had potential even though it didn't live up to the CIA's original expectations. There were too many pluses for them to just discard it. It worked in such minute quantities, caused serious mental confusion, it was colorless, odorless and tasteless, and therefore could be placed in food and beverages. In keeping LSD, the role of a truth drug for which they were searching had changed, and the CIA was no longer certain as to what their ultimate goal for LSD would be. At one point, they did a complete reversal and suggested that maybe it could be used as an anti-interrogation substance. This use would be comparable to the suicide pill. Agents would be equipped with a tablet of LSD and if they should be captured by the enemy, they could pop this tablet and would give the interrogator gibberish. At this point, the CIA was very confused since this last use would be very impractical since from their own experiments, the CIA knew that LSD could have just the opposite effect.

The CIA's Project MKULTRA

The CIA did not give up on LSD. Research on LSD, as well as other drugs was now expanded in MKULTRA, in 1953. The goal for MKULTRA was no longer to seek out chemicals that could be used to extract information, as was the goal in ARTICHOKE, but to utilize drugs in what was broadly referred to as mind control. This project was run by a small unit within the CIA, the Technical Service Staff (TSS) that and was led by Dr. Sidney Gottlieb. It was under his leadership that many of the illegal as well as immoral studies on LSD were carried out. Gottlieb did not believe in using laboratory experiments to test the potential of LSD and recommended that such tests be done outside the lab. His tests were well organized and divided into three phases.

He began the first phase of this experiment by dosing agents within TSS and taking notes as to the effects of LSD. Phase two involved having his agents dose their fellow agents with LSD by slipping it into their food or drinks, without their prior knowledge. However, the agents were informed after \they had ingested the LSD in order for them make preparation, i.e. take the rest of the day off, for when the drug took effect. It was important that the agents not have prior knowledge that they were going to be taking LSD since that would have biased the results. The final phase was to expand the dosing of LSD to all staff members within the CIA, without their knowledge. This was when the tests got out of hand. TSS agents were now treating this as a game and nobody was excluded from the tests. The Office of Security, the other unit within the CIA that led the ARTICHOKE research began to reconsider this type of experimentation and thought that the TSS should exercise better judgement in dealing with a drug as powerful as LSD. However, nothing was done until after a 3-day retreat, when Dr. Sidney Gottlieb, a chemist who was the head of the MKULTRA project, spiked the after dinner cocktails with LSD. Dr Frank Olson, an army scientist who specialized in biological warfare research, had never taken LSD before, and slid into a deep depression. A week after the retreat, Olsen was described by Harold Abramson, a physician that superiors referred him to, as being in a "psychotic state". Why he was sent to a physician rather than a psychiatrist is not known. Nine days after he had been dosed with LSD, Olsen died as a result of going through a closed, window, on the 10th. floor of a Manhattan hotel. His death was officially ruled a suicide. Olsen's death was what finally led CIA director, Allen Dulles, to a temporary suspension of the "in-house testing" of LSD and a reprimand saying that those involved had used poor judgement. There was also no record of this incident in their personnel file. Thus, it did not negatively impact their careers. However, this incident would later come back to haunt the CIA. During the 1970s, the government gave the Olsen family a financial settlement when the CIA was forced to acknowledge the fact that Frank Olson had been dosed with LSD, nine days before his death. They also received an apology from then President Gerald Ford, at the White House. Although his death was officially ruled a suicide, the Olsen family requests to CIA files, concerning the death of Frank Olsen were denied. Eric Olsen, Frank Olsen's eldest son has spent much of life investigating his father's death and is convinced that the government is withholding information concerning the death of his father (Risen, 2012). A lawsuit was eventually filed against the CIA that Frank Olsen did not jump out of the 13th. story window, of his New York hotel room, but was pushed. However, the lawsuit would be dismissed because of the statue of limitation and a prior agreed to settlement with the family (Frommer, 2013).

The unfortunately incident concerning Olsen was only a bump in the road for LSD research and Gottlieb soon began what would be the ultimate phase in testing LSD. This would be the testing of LSD on the civilian population within the United States, which would be known only to a handful of agents in the CIA . Testing was done in order to learn what the effects of LSD would be in real life situations. George White, a narcotics officer for the Federal Narcotics Bureau, was selected for the job. He began by renting an apartment in Greenwich Village (New York), and with funds from the CIA set up a safehouse, with surveyance equipment and a two way mirror. He lured unsuspecting individuals back to his apartment, where they were dosed with LSD without their knowledge. Their reactions to LSD were recorded and White also kept a personal diary where he recorded his observations. 

In San Francisco, he carried out a similar procedure with two safe houses. This project was famously referred to as Operation Midnight Climax and differed significantly in how his victims were lured to the safehouses. White now lured men from bars to the safe houses with the aid of drug addicted prostitutes who slipped them LSD in their drinks. The prostitutes were paid $100/night and a verbal guarantee from White that should they be arrested while "being engaged in their profession".  Not only was the CIA able to obtain data on the effects of LSD from these victims, they were also able to learn how to use sex as a tool for the purpose of espionage. LSD was tested on "individuals at all social levels, high and low, native Americans and foreign." Individuals had become ill, some requiring hospitalization. Also, White was not a scientist and the usefulness of his data was questionable and that results were even biased. However, Richard Helms, deputy director for covert operations at that time, defended the program in a memo using by this time, a common response to justify all that was being done with LSD. Helms argued that the Soviet Union were also carrying out such experiments and that it was necessary for us to do so in order to stay ahead of them in such endeavors. The experiments would continue until White retired in 1966. 

White was running such operations for the CIA until 1963 (14 years), when MKULTRA was accidentally discovered by inspector general John Earman who would make a report to John McCone, the new CIA director who replaced Allen Dulles. His report was a very unfavorable and noted that "the concepts involved in manipulating human behavior are found by many people within and outside the Agency to be distasteful and unethical." His most caustic comments, however, were reserved for the safehouse experiments where he stated that the LSD tests placed "the rights and interests of U.S. citizen in jeopardy." 

Despite this confusion of what to do with LSD, experimentation continued. To appreciate why it continued, you have to realize what period of time this was in our country's history. It was the 1950's, McCarthyism and the "cold war" was in full swing. Most of the population, not just the CIA, had a paranoid fear that the United States was being infiltrated by "the communists" and that they would soon take us over. In the case of the CIA, there was also the paranoid belief that China and the Soviet Union was carrying out similar mind control research with LSD. Although there was never any evidence to indicate that this was the case, the CIA orchestrated a worst case scenario. What would happen if an American spy was caught and given LSD? An agent naive to the ways of LSD may be unable to distinguish a drug induced psychosis from insanity. Therefore, the only means by which the CIA could be certain that their agent would not break down is if they had first hand experience with LSD and have the understanding that its effects are temporary.

After working with LSD for a number of years, the CIA devised new interrogation methods that could be used in combination with LSD. Since LSD could cause various symptoms, such as anxiety, mental derangement and confusion, which a skillful interrogator can utilized by maintaining anxiety by keeping the person's mind in a drugged state for an indefinite period of time would make the person more likely to tell all so that he can be taken out of the LSD state. This type of interrogation was used from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s.

LSD Research by the United States Army

The army also carried out research with LSD, but with a far different goal. During the 1950s, Major General William Creasy, a chemical warfare officer, came up with a grandiose scheme for using LSD in times of war where some sort of madness gas would be dropped into enemy territory that would disorient people to the extent that it would disrupt their ability to resist. The appeared to be a very attractive alternative to a war and a scenario was given as to what the benefits of such a weapon would be. For example, what if an enemy held a friendly city filled with friendly civilians. In trying to capture the city, utilizing traditional war time weapons,  there would be undoubtedly numerous civilian casualties from collateral damage. In addition the city and most structures, such as museums, monuments, landmarks, etc would also be destroyed. However, if LSD was used to spike the water supply or as an aerosol spray, this would incapacitate all the occupants in the city and the city would be taken without any deaths. Yes, this would blow everybody's mind, but after a few weeks everyone would return to normal, according to Creasy. Creasy testified to Congress that this would be far better than a traditional war where people would be dying using traditional weapons. Following his testimony, funding was given to continue with such research. Various tests were carried out using LSD, including dosing U.S. soldiers to see how well they would function in their duties while high on LSD. At one point Creasy even suggested that large scale testing should be carried out on civilians in, for example subways. However, testing of chemical weapons in the United States was prohibited, a reason that Creasy thought "It was denied on a reason that always seemed ridiculous to me." However, the idea of an aerosol never panned out. Research indicated that LSD was far more effective when ingested than when inhaled as an aerosol. Also, no practical means was ever developed that could deliver LSD as an aerosol. 

Other tests were also carried out with military personnel and with other chemicals. It is estimated by the Department of Defense that as many as 7000 soldiers soldiers may have participated in these experiments and many claimed that they were coerced into participating. Also, these chemicals were not only studied as possible incapacitating agents for warfare, but were tested for interrogation purposes just as the CIA had been doing for years. Like the CIA, research with these drugs were being carried out at various universities and hospitals and even lobotomies were given to individuals that were being tested.

Chemicals tested by the army were mostly channeled through their Edgewood Arsenal facilities in Maryland. There was approximately an average of 400 chemicals that passed through this facility that were obtained from American pharmaceutical firms. One of these drugs was quinuclindinyl benzilate (commonly referred to as BZ). It inhibited production of chemicals that facilitates perceptual pattern and the effects lasted about three days, but could last for as long as six weeks. Symptoms of BZ were similar to LSD, which included headaches, giddiness, disorientation, auditory and visual hallucinations and maniacal behavior, but it a more powerful and was capable of being dispersed as an aerosol. This was the super hallucinogen that Creasy had envisioned in his new kind of warfare and by the 1960s, testing of LSD by the army, as well as  the CIA, was eventually was phased out in favor of BZ. By this time BZ was already incorporated into a grenade weapon and a 750 pound cluster bomb. There were also reports of it being used as a counterinsurgency weapon in Vietnam and according to CIA  documents, plans for its use case of a major civilian insurrection. 

CIA Funded Research on LSD Outside of Federal Agencies

In the 50s, following the publications, by Werner Stoll, only a handful of scientists in the United States were carrying out research with LSD, but there were few funding agencies that supported such research. Even so, by 1951 more than 100 articles publications on LSD would appear in medical journals, and by 1961, there would be more than a 1000 (Dyck, 2005). Also occurring at this time was the decision by the CIA that they had learned all they could from their “field research” and with their virtually unlimited resources could fund methodical laboratory experiments. To carry out this endeavor, the CIA started a series of granting agencies, the Geschickter Fund for Medical Research, the Society for the Study of Human Ecology and the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation, for this purpose. By funding research grants, the CIA could readily keep track of the research that was being carried out through their funding conduits. Although research of significance would be published through these granting agencies, the CIA had the final word on what could and could not be published.

The earliest researchers carrying out research on LSD were by Drs. Max Renkle and Robert Hyde, who were employed at the Boston Psychopathic Institute, a mental health clinic associated with Harvard University. Hyde, would, in fact, be the first person to take LSD in the Western Hemisphere. They tested LSD on 100 volunteers in their initial research and determined that the LSD produced temporary psychotic symptoms in normal individuals. Their results were reported the results in May 1950 at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

At the same meeting, Dr. Paul Hoch, presenting results of his research on LSD, mescaline and related drugs that supported and expanded Renkle and Hyde’s results. He concluded that such drugs were psychotomimetic or "madness mimicking agent" that simulated psychoses, such as schizophrenia. At the time, this hypothesis was a revelation in scientific circles. If a biochemical imbalance from a psychoactive substance could produce psychotic conditions, then conversely, could it not be said that alleviating a temporary psychotic disturbance caused by LSD might be the key in finding a cure for schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders? During the 1940s and earlier, explanations for various psychotic disturbances were not thought to be due to biochemical imbalances. Instead, if, for example, a child was diagnosed with some psychiatric disorder, the parents were at fault because they were bad parents and did not provide emotional support for the child (Nichols, 2018). The early research on psychedelics would follow the psychotomimetic model (Stevens, 1988). However, as interest in LSD research grew, new concepts concerning their effect began to change. No longer was it thought to be only psychotomimetic. disturbances were not thought to be due to biochemical imbalances. Instead, if, for example, a child was diagnosed with some psychiatric disorder, the parents were at fault because they were bad parents and did not provide emotional support for the child (Nichols, 2018). The early research on psychedelics would follow the psychotomimetic model (Stevens, 1988). However, as interest in LSD research grew, new concepts concerning their effect began to change. No longer was it thought to be only psychotomimetic. 

LSD Research in the 1950s and 1960s

Alfred Hubbard (Fig. 4) would seem to be a very unlikely person to have the title of the "Johnny Appleseed of LSD." The name was given to him because he is said to have turned on thousands, from all walks of life, onto LSD in his travels to spread the gospel of LSD. Hubbard is also often credited with being to the first person to advocate the potential beneficial use of LSD in the scientific community. However, in looking at his background, this would seem to be an unlikely role for him. Before becoming an LSD apostle, Hubbard served as a high-level officer with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), a war time intelligence agency during World War II (WWII) that was the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Before the United States entry into WWII, he was involved with smuggling weapons and other war material, i.e., ships and planes to Great Britain. He personally filtered millions of dollars through the American consulate to finance numerous covert operations. All of this was, of course, illegal, but he and his co-conspirators would eventually be given a presidential pardon and a presidential commendation as well by President Harry Truman.

Hubbard was 49 when he was first introduced to LSD by Dr. Ronald Sandison of Great Britain, one of the first clinical psychiatrist to carry out research on the clinical use of LSD in psychiatry. Hubbard claimed that this initial experience with LSD changed his life. To learn more about hallucinogens, he began to seek out others familiar with these drugs. Despite having only about a third grade education, he would interact with numerous researchers of psychedelics and make contributions that would enhance researchers. Some contributions did not originate with him, such as the suggestion that LSD being utilized in therapy rather than as a psychotomimetic. This concept was among Sandoz’s first suggestion when distributing LSD for research (Stevens, 1988):

To elicit release of repressed material and provide mental relaxation, particular in anxiety states and obsessional neuroses.

Although not an original idea on the part of Hubbard, this would lead to the hallmark as the basis for the protocol of psychedelic research with LSD, “set and setting”. The concept involved here was that a subject’s response to LSD was dependent upon “Set”, the personality of the subject, the preparation given to the subject to prepare them for their interaction with LSD, what their expectation may be and the goal of the person having the experience. You are likely to have a good experience if you are working with an observer that is friendly and will tell you ahead of time what to expect while you are under LSD and also discuss with this person what your expectations are. This would take place prior to the subject being given the LSD. The “Setting” would be the environment in which the experiment would take place, social and cultural environment. This may involve the person who is “guiding” you through your journey, the playing of certain genre of music, i.e., classical, new age, etc., but usually not rock and roll or elevator music,  and décor of the room in which the LSD will be taken. Hubbard would eventually used this protocol in his use of LSD to treat alcoholics, in several different hospitals in Canada. However, he would receive complaints from US medical officials that since he was not a physician, he could not legally administer drugs. Hubbard would just laugh that off and bought a PhD degree from a diploma mill, a title that he used in a journal article in which he was an author (MacLean, et al., 1961).

Among those that he contacted was Dr. Humphry Osmond (Fig. 5) who was interested in psychosis and mental illness. Osmond was among the early pioneers in the utilization of psychedelic in psychotherapy. He would also be the person to coin the term “psychedelic”, from the Greek, literally meaning “mind manifesting”. The term was first introduced when Osmond while addressing a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences, in 1957, argued that hallucinogenic drugs did more than mimic psychosis, and suggested an appropriate name that would include experiences that enriched the mind. Osmond would go on to carry out numerous experiments with psychedelics with many participants.

Among the thousands of volunteers in his experiments, Aldous Huxley (Fig. 6) was the most well-known to be introduced to mescaline. Huxley, the author best known for his Brave New World novel had long been interested in mind control drugs and believed that they could have a profound beneficial effect. He had read about Osmond's research and offered himself as a test subject for his experiment. In May 1953, Huxley tried mescaline for the first time and thought it an extraordinary experience that he later described in his book the Doors of Perception that was published in 1954. This book would later be very influential during the 1960s, when recreational use of LSD and other psychedelics were popular. At this time few people were aware of mind-altering drugs and Huxley's book made at least the educated segment of the population aware of their existence. In the Doors of Perception, he presented a rather novel hypothesis. He wrote that the brain and the nervous system are not the source of the cognitive process, i.e., thinking, reasoning, memory, etc., but instead was a screening mechanism that filtered all the information necessary for survival in everyday life, i.e., the reason for your perception of the real world. So, if for some reason this screening mechanism was temporarily suspended, such as with a hallucinogen like mescaline or LSD, then the world would appear in an entirely new light. He believed this experience to be spiritual in nature, like experiences gained without drugs, such as during meditation and other spiritual exercises. His next mescaline experience would take place in 1955, in a group session with Hubbard and Gerald Heard, the well-known American historian, science writer and philosopher, and a close friend of Huxley. This would lead to another description of mescaline in his essay, Heaven and Hell. Later the same year, Huxley would be introduced to LSD, again, under the guidance of Hubbard.

Humphry Osmond would be one of many researchers that believed LSD and other psychedelics would be of beneficial in treatment of various psychotic disturbances. The story of his research program can be used to demonstrate how LSD, as well as other psychedelics, during the 1950s went from being a promising means of treating various psychiatric disturbances and how by the 1960s, it suddenly fell into disfavor as a psychotomimetic that drove users insane.

Humphry Osmond along with his colleague John Smythies were colleagues at St. George’s Hospital in London, England. In 1950, they began researching mescaline and its effect on the human body. After nearly two years of research, they concluded that mescaline produced symptoms similar to schizophrenia, i.e., hallucinations, delusions disorganized thoughts and behaviors. They also noted the molecular similarity between the adrenaline and mescaline molecule (Stevens, 1988). This led them to believe, like Renkle and Hyde, and Hoch before them, that schizophrenia was the result of a biochemical imbalance, in this case it was adrenaline that lead to the production of a substance that was related to mescaline that lead to schizophrenia (Stevens, 1988; Dyck, 2005).

Osmond would eventually leave St. George’s Hospital to take a position at Weyburn Mental Hospital, in Canada, in the Province of Saskatchewan, where he would continue his research with mescaline. Within a year he began collaborating with Abram Hoffer who was also interested in biochemical experimentations of hallucinogens. Osmond and Hoffer’s research with mescaline eventually led them to LSD. However, because of lack of funding, Osmond, as well as other researchers self-experimented with mescaline and LSD (Dyck, 2005) and discovered that LSD and mescaline produced similar reactions. The experiences with LSD eventually led them to consider utilizing LSD in psychiatric research. 

Dr. Oscar Janiger (Fig. 6), a Los Angeles psychiatrist, was among those who Hubbard supplied with LSD. He was part of a small circle of scientists and literary figures in the Los Angeles area who began using LSD at social gatherings in the mid 1950's. Among those participating in his circle of friends were Aldous Huxley, Gerald Heard the philosopher, Perry Bivens, the deep-sea diver and various researchers. By the late 50's, LSD was the talk of Hollywood as various movie stars were given the drug by their psychiatrist. Among them were Andre Previn, Jack Nicholson, James Coburn and Cary Grant. Grant surprisingly, among the above people, began actively promoting LSD. Grant stated, "I've been searching for peace of mind. I'd explored yoga and hypnotism and made several attempts at mysticism. Nothing really seemed to give me what I wanted until this treatment." Suddenly psychiatrists who utilized LSD in their therapy were inundated with inquiries.

In 1953, they began their first study on utilizing LSD as a treatment for alcoholics. They noted that some alcoholics decided to give up drinking only after experience delirium tremens, or what is commonly referred to as DTs. This occurs when an alcoholic is going through withdrawal and is said to be “hitting bottom”.  Although a frightening time for alcoholics, it can also be the catalyst for alcoholics finally reaching a point where they are asking for help, leading them to a critical turning point of alcoholism that could eventually lead them to becoming sober. However, fatality also occurs in approximately 10% of alcoholics going through DTs. Based on this concept, Osmond and Hoffer hypothesized that if LSD could simulate DTs, it might overcome an alcoholic’s desire to drink in excess without fatalities occurring.

They initially tested their hypothesis, using two patients, a man and a woman. Both were patients at the Mental Hospital in Weyburn and were chronic alcoholics. The treatment was successful. The man stopped drinking immediately after the LSD trials and the woman would stop 6 months after the trials.

A further study on the utilization of LSD on alcoholism, also in Saskatchewan, had a larger sample size of 24 patients that was carried out by psychiatrist, Colin Smith. Smith’s treatment included prepared the patients explained the purpose of the experiment and encouraged them to talk about with alcoholism. A single large dose of LSD was then given that Smith hypothesized would simulate DTs, which would have a powerful therapeutic effect (Dyck, 2005). After the treatment, it was concluded that none of the patients became worse after the study (Dyck, 2005): Twelve were unchanged, i.e., neither better nor worse. Six significantly reduced their alcohol consumption and six completely abstained from alcohol. Smith would revise his hypothesis upon analyzing his results. Rather than LSD simulating DTs, in going over his reports on the reactions related to him by his patients, he instead suggested that the LSD simulated a religious conversion. This conclusion was also suggested by Hubbard that if he gave a large dose of LSD given to an alcoholic, he would attempt to trigger a religious experience by utilizing religious symbols that would lead to permanent change even after the drug wore off. This hypothesis differed from that of Osmond and Hoffer’s in simulating DTs, which was utilizing LSD as a psychotomimetic, but as their research progressed, Osmond and his colleagues also realized that most people who took LSD did not become insane and that hallucinogenic drugs did more than mimic psychosis, and suggested the term psychedelic, a term that would include experiences that enriched the mind. Osmond first introduced the term while addressing a meeting of the New York Academy of Sciences, in 1957. The term psychedelic is from the Greek, literally meaning "mind manifesting."

The results of the studies of utilizing LSD to treat alcoholism were published and appeared to offer a better option in treating alcoholism than other approaches, such as taking antabuse, a drug that would make alcoholics avoid drinking due to its unpleasant effects should alcohol be consumed, i.e., fast heartbeat, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, flushing and thirst, and they would even claim better than joining Alcoholic Anonymous, a successful international organization that is dedicated to helping alcoholics become sober. However, despite the positive published results, the Addiction Research Foundation (ARF) in Toronto called the conclusions misleading since controls were not utilized in these experiments. The ARF was correct in this criticism, but it must also be pointed out that although the use of controls in scientific experiments were becoming more wide-spread by the 1950s, it was still not universal in scientific experiments. The ARF also believed the methodology to be flawed since stimuli within the environment where the LSD was taken may have influenced the results. The ARF would go on to conduct its own experiment, taking away other possible external influences. This was done by giving the LSD to the test subject while they were blindfolded and/or restrained and observers of the experiment were given not to interact with the test subjects. Following the completion of the experiment, the results of the experiment did not show the same results as those observed by Smith. Researchers in Saskatchewan argued that the controls placed upon the test patients caused a reduction in their comfort level that raised apprehensions during the experiment, thereby influencing the results. They explained that the environment in which the test subjects were placed had a significant effect on the outcome of the experiment. In other words, the lack of the proper set and setting was why the ARF results differ from those carried out by Humphry, Smith and other researchers. The utilization in research of set and setting in using LSD for therapy and the lack of it in research carried out by the CIA and military was the reason for the polarization of the researchers that believed LSD to be of therapeutic value versus those that believed it to be a psychotomimetic. 

Independent LSD Researchers

There were also individuals that carried out their own research, but often not in the most scientific matter. The most well known was Dr. Oscar Janiger (Fig. 7), A Beverley Hills psychiatrist. His first study on the effects of LSD was a simple one. He would ask the volunteers to record their experience while on LSD. Obtaining volunteers was not a problem. He was a lecturer at one of the nearby universities and had no difficulty in recruiting students to participate in his experiments. One volunteer, a painter made sketches while on LSD and was convinced that the works created was an artistic breakthrough. Upon hearing about the a “creative pill”, by word of mouth, Janiger was soon inundated by other artists to create while under the influence of LSD. Although the art work may have been breakthroughs, in the minds of the artists that created them, they were unable to express their experience with LSD. This led Janiger to try using writers for his LSD studies since, as writers, they would be better able to express what their experience was while under LSD than artists. He would eventually have LSD group sessions that appeared more recreational than science. By the late 50's, LSD was the talk of Hollywood and as various movie stars were given the drug by their psychiatrist. Among them were Andre Previn, Jack Nicholson, James Coburn and Cary Grant.  

Cary Grant would become the most influential LSD advocate in Hollywood. Grant went through therapy under Arthur Chandler and Mortimer Hartman, who were partners in a 5-year therapeutic study of LSD. Cary Grant, would take LSD more than sixty times, and while being interviewed about his LSD use, he told reporters:

"I have been born again," he told the astonished reporters. "I have been through a psychiatric experience which has completely changed me. I was horrendous. I had to face things about myself which I never admitted, which I didn't know were there. Now I know that I hurt every woman I ever loved. I was an utter fake, a self-opinionated bore, a know-all who knew very little.

"I found I was hiding behind all kinds of defenses, hypocrisies and vanities. I had to get rid of them layer by layer. The moment when your conscious meets your subconscious is a hell of a wrench. With me there came a day when I saw the light."

Psychedelic Research Comes to an End in the 1960s

During the 1950s and into the 60s, there would be thousands of publications published on psychedelics, involving as many as 40,000 patients. LSD therapy was utilized by many high-profile psychiatrists in the treatment of various psychiatric problems, such as frigidity and other sexual aberrations, psychological stress of terminal patients in helping them come to terms with death and alcoholism, to name a few. The more traditional treatments for some psychiatric problems, such as lobotomy, electroshock and anti-psychotic drugs now seem much riskier when compared to LSD use. However, despite such documented positive potential of LSD and other psychedelics, research soon came to end for various reasons.

Timothy Leary

One person that many would blame for the curtailment of LSD and psychedelic research was Timothy Leary (Fig. 8). His involvement in psychedelic begins with an article that came out in Life Magazine in 1957 written by R. Gordon Wasson. This article would achieve national notoriety and was entitled Seeking the Magic Mushroom and describes Wasson’s experience with psychoactive mushrooms (Psilocybe mushrooms) while participating in a religious ceremony of the Mazatec people, a tribe of Native American Indians. This would be the first article, concerning hallucinogenic mushrooms, to reach a mass audience. The article led thousands to journey into Mexico to experience the mushrooms.

In the late 1950s, Leary was a junior faculty member at Harvard. Leary was already a rising star before attaining his position at Harvard. He was a successful clinical psychologist, and between 1954-59, he was director of clinical research and psychology at Kaiser Foundation Hospital in Oakland, California. He published extensively and wrote a widely acclaimed psychology textbook.

His experience with psilocybin mushrooms occurred while vacationing with colleagues in Mexico, in the summer of 1960. A discussion concerning Wasson's magazine article led one of his colleagues to say "Why don't we see if we can find some?" In a short time, they were able to obtain a handful of psilocybin mushrooms from an old Native American woman. Leary required some prodding, but eventually washed down the mushrooms with beer. At this time Leary had not even smoke marijuana. Although, Leary initially thought trying these so called "magic mushrooms" was foolish and dangerous (Stevens 1988). However, his life would forever be changed after ingesting the mushrooms. Upon his return to Harvard, he decided that his new found interest in the magic mushrooms would become the basis for his research. Richard Alpert, a young assistant professor at Harvard at this time would also join Leary in research with psilocybin what was called the Psilocybin Project (Fig. 8). This area of research and thus began the start of a famous partnership on psychedelics. By the time their research began, Albert Hofmann had synthesized psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in Psilocybe mushrooms, which Sandoz made available in pill form for the purpose of experimentation. They would go on to carry out two projects that showed the potential of utilizing psilocybin in psychotherapy and eventually incorporate LSD into their project.

The future looked promising for Leary and Alpert's Psilocybin Project. However, the methodology utilized by Leary and Alpert were questioned by their colleagues at Harvard and were said to be carried out in an irresponsible matter. One criticism that was brought up was that rather than holding their psychedelic sessions in a clinical setting, they held them outside the university, at a private apartment, in comfortable surroundings where subjects could relax and listen to music. During these sessions, Leary and Alpert would commonly also be taking the psilocybin pills (again, the difference in opinion having to do with set and setting). Also, that trained physicians needed to be present. He was often warned by his colleagues, as well as Hubbard to keep his opinions on psychedelics to himself, but he would not listen. Being so outspoken about psychedelics, as well as for the casual matter in which he was accused of carrying out his research, he and Alpert eventually were dismissed from Harvard. This would be the only time in the 20th Century in which faculty members would be dismissed from Harvard.

Following their dismissal, Leary and Alpert, but mostly Leary were often featured in stories in most of the major US magazines’ featured stories on LSD. Leary would become the LSD guru and with the extensive media coverage, it is likely one of the reasons why at this time, the growth in the popularity of LSD occurred. It was during his interviews with the media that Leary took his case to the people, in particular the young people and was convinced that the hope of the world was in LSD. His philosophy was simple, the more turned, on the better. The phrase "turn on, tune in and drop out" was made famous by Leary at this time, as well as many other catch phrases, as he spoke and toured, advocating LSD.

Leary and Alpert also founded the International Foundation for Internal Freedom (IFIF), in 1962. The purpose of the organization was to carry out research on the religious use of psychedelics. Their membership grew quickly to three thousand dues paying member. Learyʻs over the top statements concerning LSD and other psychedelics often were controversial and was the reason why so many blamed him for the eventual banning of research and therapeutic use of LSD.

Promotion of LSD as a Psychotomimetic by the CIA, Military, FDA, AMA and Others

In 1959, the First International Conference on LSD Therapy was sponsored by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation (a CIA conduit). The scientist in charge of the conference, as well as a number of featured speakers were all connected to the CIA. So, despite the evidence presented to the contrary that LSD is not a psychotomimetic and potentially a useful therapeutic tool, the conference continued to support the view of the CIA and the military, that hallucinogenic drugs are dangerous because they drove people insane. This perception would govern major policy decisions into the 1960s.The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) began to denounce the drug, despite all the positive contributions in psychiatric treatments that had been carried out after 10 years. Why was this occurring? One of the major problem that both the AMA and FDA had was that LSD was not like other authorized medication. It was not utilized to treat a specific problem, like the polio, or small pox vaccine, but instead was touted as not only being able to treat various conditions, but could be utilized to treat someone that is healthy, as well. Most doctors were unable to accept the concept that medication should be given to somebody that was not in any way ill.

In 1962, congress enacted a new law that a new drug must be proven to be safe and effective against the condition to which it is being marketed. Clearly, LSD, did not satisfy this condition. With the passage of this law, LSD and other experimental drugs could not be utilized to treat people and could only be used for research. This forced all psychiatrists to stop treatments where LSD was being utilized to treat their patients. There was, however, a clause where exemption could be made, but these were almost exclusively given to the CIA and military. That same year, the CIA had decided that they were no longer interested in long term studies on LSD because they had decided that they had learned enough about LSD and its applications.  So, grants for LSD research were no longer available from the CIA. Due to lack of funding, closure of most university and independent LSD research programs occurred.

In 1965, Congress passed the Drug Abuse Control Amendment, which allowed for the designation of certain stimulant, depressant or hallucinogenic drugs as controlled substances, requiring licensing for sales and distribution. This meant that the sales and distribution of LSD without proper credential was illegal, but only a misdemeanor. However, strangely enough, it further states that possession for personal consumption or administration to animals was specifically allowed under this law, e.g., use of LSD would still be legal and not considered a crime.

Public opinion, law makers, much of the scientific community and the mass media would also be turning against psychedelics, especially LSD.  In spring 1966, the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency, chaired by Thomas Dodd, the senator from Connecticut, convened a round of hearings dealing with the growing "LSD problem." He spoke out against LSD and dismissed consciousness expansion as an excuse for recreation use and proposed strict new laws aimed at advocates in the use of drug user and their for some higher psychic experiences. In California, the legislature passed a proclamation banning the use of LSD that would go into effect on October 6, 1966.

Scientists, health officials, law enforcement experts and scientists against LSD would offer their opinions that recreational use of LSD can only lead to tragic results, leading to instant psychosis and a tendency toward bizarre behavior and fits of violence. They also warned of the “flashback phenomenon”, the recurrence of a LSD experience taking place at any moment at any moment without warning. Other incidents that they warned would occur in LSD users is the eventual withdrawal from productive society, and finally the stereotype warning of the domino theory of drug abuse: the neophyte starts with marijuana and LSD and inevitably winds up hooked on heroin.

The free press would almost universally sensationalized scare headlines concerning LSD: “LSD: A Dangerous New Campus Fad.” “LSD Trip Can Be A Living Nightmare.” LSD: Some Trips Are One-Way Only.” See headlines below. There were stories on LSD causing chromosome damage that caused couples to give birth to some kind of octopus-like fetus or permanent insanity.

The CIA and military would also play a role in turning public opinion against LSD by spreading disinformation. They were, in fact, responsible for the false information concerning chromosome damage. They had carried out research with LSD and its impact on chromosome damage and concluded that damage caused was no worse than caffein or other commonly consumed products.

With the fear that LSD and other psychedelic would eventually no longer be available for psychiatric treatment and research, some scientists would testify against such measures. Timothy Leary would be among the advocates to testify against banning the use of LSD. Unfortunately, the comprise suggestion that he made was a less than reasonable one. He suggested that there be a moratorium on LSD rather than banning it. If this was done Leary said that he would urge everyone to stop taking LSD for a year. He also warned that banning LSD would have the same effect as prohibition during the 1920s and 1930s, driving LSD users underground and creating a black market that would produce tainted LSD, harmful to the user. Dr. Stanley Yolles, former director of NIMH, would offer a similar warning, "that if we make the possession of LSD illegal, it will drive it further underground and make what perhaps is the beginning of a flaunting of authority ... a more pathological process and a more strongly accented act of rebellion." Both Leary and Yolles believed that if LSD was banned, a black market would be created that would allow the illegal use of LSD to flourish, which was what exactly occurred.

Federally funded LSD research programs had also ended at this time. However, there would one member of Congress that would question the termination of these research programs. In 1966, Senator Robert Kennedy, whose wife, Ethel, had undergone LSD therapy, led a congressional probe concerning the termination of these programs. Kennedy began by asking officials of the FDA and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to explain why LSD projects suddenly ended. When he got the “run around” in response to his question, he then demanded repeatedly “Why if they were worthwhile six months ago, why aren’t they worthwhile now?” “Why didn’t you just let them continue?” “We keep going around and around…If I could get a flat answer about that I would be happy. Is there a misunderstanding about my question?” However, Kenedy was not to receive satisfactory answers to his questions and ended the meeting with “I think we have given too much emphasis and so much attention to the fact that it can be dangerous and that it can hurt an individual who uses it…that perhaps to some extent we have lost sight of the fact that it can be very, very helpful in our society if used properly.” In the end the FDA refused to listen to Kennedy and continued on the course that they had chosen for LSD.

In 1968, the Drug Abuse Control Amendment was modified. Possession of LSD was now a misdemeanor and sale a felony and by 1970, it would be classified in the United States Controlled Substances Act as a schedule 1 drug. Drugs in this category are defined as having no medical value and high potential for abuse.

Some Interesting Stories of LSD

The Road to Eleusis

Although LSD became very prominent during the 1960's, it is now believed by some that ergot was used in ancient Greece. The Road to Eleusis is written by three ethnomycologist, someone who studies the use of fungi in various cultures, Gordon Wasson, Albert Hofmann, and Carl Ruck, who is also a well respected Greek scholar. The Road to Eleusis was available in its entirety on the internet. However, a few years ago, the book was reissued and in order to help stimulate sales, the on line version of the book has been removed.

Eleusis was located about 20 kilometers north-west from Athens, where a special event was celebrated every September. The celebration was to honor the reunification of Demeter and her daughter Persephone, after she had been kidnapped by the god of the underworld, Pluto. The celebration involved a ceremony that was kept secret to all outsiders. Those participating in the ceremony were sworn to secrecy. The penalty for revelation of the ceremony, by the participants, was death. During a key part of the ceremony, kykeon is ingested. Once ingested, the kykeon was said to have cleansed the body and soul. Although important, this was not the entire celebration. The festival would last for nine days. During this time, there was a parade that went from Athens and ended at Eleusis on the only road that was built by the Greeks. A reenactment of the story of Demeter and Persephone would also take place. However, it was the mystery of the kykeon that has stimulated the most interest and despite the threat of death, with so many people involved, it was difficult to keep kykeon a complete secret. By the 7th. Century, there were many users who had described the pleasurable experiences during the ceremony and in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, there was even claims that the ingredients for the makeup of kykeon was water, barley and a mint. However, few believed this recipe since it was apparent that the kykeon was a psychoactive beverage. For many years, several species of psychoactive mushrooms were believed to be the key ingredient to this sacrament. However, in their book Road to Eleusis, Wasson, Hofmann and Ruck believed that the key ingredient was an extract of ergot! (I know that this is an ergot story and not an LSD one)

The Doc Ellis story

Some stories even became legends. One story that was published in High Times magazine, in August 1987, was an interview with Dock Ellis who was formerly a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the late 60's and 70's. On June 20, 1970, Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. However, that he did this after having taken three hits of LSD was not known until this interview. According to Ellis, he did not take LSD thinking that he would pitch a better, but did so only because he thought he was to have a day off at tome home that day. It was only after his friend's girlfriend had returned with coffee, donuts and the morning paper that he found out that he was suppose to pitch that day. Although he showed up at the park and suited up for the game, Ellis knew that he was in bad shape and didn't have any illusions of even making it through the first inning. When he arrived in the locker room he was not even able to find his locker without help. When he finally made it to the pitcher's mound, Ellis was barely able to see the hand signals from his catcher, Jerry May. His first pitch never reached the catcher and bounced several feet in front of the plate. Then something strange happened that was due to the LSD. May signaled for a fast ball and when the ball left Ellis's hand, what he saw was that the ball was blazing like a comet and had a fiery tail that remained visible, to him, long after May had caught the ball. Make no mistake about it, the LSD made him feel terrible. He was wobbly and his stomach was churning with acid cramps, but every time he threw the fast ball, he could see the fiery path to the plate, and as long as he kept throwing the fast ball, he could use the path to steer the ball to the plate.

Ellis admitted that he did not pitch a no-hitter because he was throwing so well that day. Part of his success was probably also due to his lack of control. The Padre's batters felt very uneasy in the batter's box because of Ellis' lack of control and also because of the glazed look in his eyes. He walked 8 batters that day, an unusual high number for a no hitter. There was also pressure on him. Dave Cash, a rookie at the time, began telling him that he had a no no going, starting in the first inning and continued until the last inning.

Mycological Terms

Claviceps purpurea: Fungus commonly called Ergot of Rye is a pathogen of rye and other grasses. It was from this species that the alkaloid needed to synthesize LSD was extracted.

Albert Hofmann: Chemist who synthesized LSD and inadvertently discovered its psychoactive properties in 1943.

Alfred Hubbard: High level officer in OSS, during WWII, spy, smuggler, con man, inventor, but most famous for being the Johnny Appleseed of LSD. Said to have turned on thousands of people from all walks of life. Also participated in LSD research to show that it can be used to treat psychiatric disorder. Worked with Humphry Osmond in the use of LSD in treating alcoholism.

Gordon Wasson: Published the first article on the psychoactive properties of species in the mushroom genus Psilocybe and its use in religious ceremonies, by Native Americans, in Mexico, in 1957. Article stimulated the interest of Timothy Leary in psychoactive mushrooms, which led him to carrying out research on Psilocybe and later LSD.

Humphry Osmond: Canadian research psychiatrist. One of the early psychiatrist that was an advocate of LSD for treating psychiatric disorder. It was commonly believed by mainstream psychiatrist that LSD caused was psychotomimetic.

Set and Setting: A critical concept in the development of LSD in psychotherapy. A subjects response to therapy is dependent upon their personality, the preparation given the subject prior to taking LSD, the subject's expectation is the SET. The SETTING refers to the environment in which the subject will be placed in after taking LSD. 

LSD: German acronym for Lysergic Acid Diethyamide (LysergSäure Diathylämid), A psychoactive drug, derived from ergot, popularized in the late 1950s and 1960s for recreational use, but was also seriously considered a treatment for psychological disorders.

MKULTRA: The codename for a CIA project that tested many means by which to manipulate individual mental states and alter brain functions, including the use of drugs and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, and verbal and sexual abuse. Test subjects were United States private citizens as well as military and Canadian citizens. Research was conducted with and without the knowledge of the test subjects.

Psychotomimetic: Literally madness mimicking agent. Used to describe effect of hallucinogens drugs.

Richard Alpert: Although less well known, he was the long time collaborator with Timothy Leary and research with Psilocybe and LSD.

Timothy Leary: LSD advocate who believed that it was the hope of the world, and is credited with the popularizing LSD as a recreational drug by making public its psychoactive properties.

Questions to Think About

1. What is LSD-25 and who was the person that synthesized it?

2. What does the acronym LSD stand for? 

3. What government agencies first began research that eventually led to use of covert LSD testing on people? 

4. Why did the CIA continue working with LSD, even though it was not the truth inducing drug that they wanted? 

5. What is Project MKULTRA and what was the organization that was in charge of it?

6. How was research on LSD outside of the CIA and military funded?

7. Independent researchers using LSD for therapeutic purposes emphasized the significance of "Set" and "Setting". What is it and why was it important in utilizing LSD for therpeutic treataments?

8. The CIA and military researchers studying LSD would reach a different conclusion. Why did their research differ from early research that concluded LSD was a psychotomimetic? What is psychotomimetic?

9. Although it looked like it would be a useful tool in the future, but then suddenly, public opinion turned against LSD. What happened?

10. What was a major reason, one that is still used in determining the legal use of medications, that caused the AMA and the FDA to limit the use of research on LSD and prevent its experimental use on people?

11. Dock Ellis pitched a no hitter in 1970. Why was this particular no hitter so well known?

12. What was the celebration that took place in Eleusis in ancient Greece?

13. Celbrants at Eleusis drank kyeon during the celebration. What did some researcher believe was in the kyeon beverage?

Literature Cited:

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