Interpretation

From the year 1953 to 1964, a highly top secret operation was being conducted by the CIA, our government’s agent of foreign protection and homeland security. The U.S. had heard that China was using mind-altering drugs as an advantage in warfare in regards to interrogation and brainwashing. Our response to this was to begin our own experimentation. According to a hearing held years later about the investigation into this, the point of the program was to “develop a capability in the covert use of biological and chemical materials.” The CIA did this by administering varying doses of LSD, psilocybin, and concentrated marijuana to unsuspecting patients. It is not known exactly how many people were experimented on, but it can be agreed upon that it was at least hundreds. The results of these trails were inconclusive. Some had calm, eye-opening experiences, like the housewife in this archive, while others endured hours of trauma and fear. Supposedly the operation was put to bed in 1964, but no one can be certain. Years later and still to this day, people have been coming forward as victims with their strange stories and no answers for the past 4 decades.

What makes this event so intriguing is that, just like Watergate, we are forced to question the people that are running our country and where their interests lie. The program was so shrouded in secrecy that the proprieters did not even want their test subjects to know what was happening to them, despite the extreme discomfort they might feel. Perhaps this is from the fatalities that resulted from the trails, or the backlash they might experience from the public, or perhaps just because their superiors were not aware what was happening and if they were aware, how high should we go in examining our government officials? Their is an air of hiding a secret out in the open in this scandal. Who would suspect the CIA? What better people to host such a program than the ones doing the investigating of other people?

Personal Note: the posts in this blog should be read from the bottom up on account of I do not know how to change the direction. Thank You. Enjoy.

Vets Sue CIA Over Mind Control Tests

Since the unveiling of what happened during these experiments, many people that have suffered lifelong mental disturbances because of them are suing the Pentagon and the government. In 2003, an official made  the suggestion that we use mind-altering drugs for interrogation purposes. The article ends with an ominous “It’s coming back.”

http://www.wired.com/2009/01/mkultra-lawsuit/

10 Real Victims Of The CIA’s MKULTRA Program

These are additional stories of people that were tested on.

10 Real Victims Of The CIA’s MKULTRA Program

How the CIA’s LSD Mind-Control Experiments Destroyed My Healthy, High-Functioning Father’s Brilliant Mind

Some people were greatly affected for the rest of their lives because of these experiments done on them. This is the story of a son realizing that his father, a Georgia Senator, had been one of these victims.

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/how-cias-lsd-mind-control-experiments-destroyed-my-healthy-high-functioning-fathers-brilliant

The Legacy of the CIA’s Secret LSD Experiments on America

This article gives a recount by an unwitting government official that realized decades later that he had been drugged by the CIA. It also compares the irony that while the government was using LSD to brainwash people, a few years later a class of society would start “tripping” to achieve enlightenment.

The Legacy of the CIA’s Secret LSD Experiments on America

A 1950s Housewife is Filmed Tripping on Acid

Although this test was not administered by the CIA, I feel that it is a good representation of the attitude towards LSD during that time. It should also be noted that while this is a calm portrayal of a “trip,” many of the experiments done by the CIA were reportedly much more traumatizing and aggressive.

An Artist Draws Nine Portraits Of Himself While on LSD

After being dosed with LSD, this artist drew nine self-portraits over the course of eight hours. The artist doing these drawings is unknown but Oscar Janigar is suspected of being the person conducting the research.

http://www.openculture.com/2013/10/artist-draws-nine-portraits-on-lsd-during-1950s-research-experiment.html

High Anxiety: LSD in the Cold War

This article gives a more detailed story of the people behind the experiments. It references two main players in the promotion of the experiments: Dr. Van Murray Sim and Major Ernest Robert Clovis.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/high-anxiety-lsd-in-the-cold-war

Did the CIA Test LSD on Unsuspecting Americans?

This article is pertinent because it discusses the opinions some of the people that contributed to the LSD movement after these experiments were conducted. It’s important to keep in mind that while these actions by our government went against the public’s morality during the 50’s, only a short time later, Aldous Huxley and Timothy Leary popularized with the drug with their tests done at Harvard.

http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/cia-lsd.htm

Joint Hearing Before the Select Committee on Intelligence [About MKUltra]

This article, published by the New York Times, consists of the exact hearing conducted by various officials in regard to new information discovered about the CIA’s experimentation of drugs. If you have time to read 178 pages, it gives a full, detailed account of the extent of what is known about these operations by the general public.

Click to access 13inmate_ProjectMKULTRA.pdf