In 1942, General William Donovan, chief of Office of Strategic Services (OSS), undertook a top-secret research program in which the most prestigious American scientists were asked to participate in developing a speech inducing drug. What they were looking for was a drug that could break down the psychological defenses of the human mind and cause a disclosure of information to a skilled interrogator. The committee experimented with a wide variety of drugs inclu

Under Allen Dulles, the newly appointed CIA director, Operation MK-ULTRA was launched as the new drugs and mind control program. The program originated as a supplement to Operation ARTICHOKE, but grew into the CIA’s main effort. The Office of Security, which had headed up Operation ARTICHOKE was no longer in the picture. Operation MK-ULTRA was to be run by the Technical Services Staff (TSS), and as a result, a rivalry between the two groups developed. The Office of Security actually had one of their men spy on the progress of MK-ULTRA.

While the CIA usually discarded most of the drugs that didn’t perform exactly how they desired, they seemed to embrace this new and mysterious drug. LSD required the most minute quantities to produce drastic effects. It was also unusual in regards that the effects of the drug only took place after the drug had disappeared from the Central Nervous System. The CIA ordered that all LSD research done in America be monitored to ensure that they had any and all new information on the drug.

Years prior to this, Dr. Hofmann of Switzerland had created LSD during an investigation of the chemical properties of ergot and its uses as a circulatory stimulant in 1938. He lost interest after tests on animals yielded nothing. In 1943, he accidently absorbed a small dose through his fingertips during a followup study, sending him into a “remarkable but not unpleasant state of intoxication... characterized by an intense stimulation of the imagination and an altered state of awareness of the world” (Hoffman 3). He continued studies for many years in the Sandoz laboratories in Switzerland, until Dr. Werner Stoll, president of the Sandoz laboratories, published some of his and Dr. Hofmann’s findings. When officials of Operation ARTICHOKE read the properties of LSD, they immediately tested it as possible truth serum in 1951. Initial tests ended quickly in a recommendation for much further testing. This new and interesting drug had everyone involved with the project perplexed. A CIA psychiatrist gave at least twelve volunteers LSD including an officer who was instructed not to reveal a significant military secret. When the officer was interrogated while under the influence of LSD, he gave all the details of the secret while he seemed to be “in another world” (Lee 15). When the effects wore off, the officer had no idea that he had given away the secret. The conclusion of this study was a report entitled “Potential New Agent for Unconventional Warfare.”

The testing took a serious turn on one such occasion. On a work retreat with a group of CIA agents and army technicians, Gottlieb spiked cocktails after dinner. After the drug began to take effect on the group, he informed them that they had just ingested LSD. One of the men on the retreat named Dr. Olson, an army technician, fell into a deep depression afterwards. He returned to work the next week and asked his boss to fire him. Concerned, his boss sent him to a physician in New York City. During his stay, Dr. Olson leaped out of his tenth floor hotel room in the middle of the night, killing himself. The seriousness of this event led Dulles to suspend the in-house testing briefly to allow an investigation. At the end of the investigation, Gottlieb was only quietly reprimanded for his bad judgement.

In 1950, the CIA’s efforts to find a truth serum were collected into one organized effort and Project BLUEBIRD was formed. The fragility of the issue was such that the usual process of authorization was bypassed and went straight to the director of the CIA, Roscoe Hillenkoetter, who approved. In 1951 the project’s name was changed to Operation ARTICHOKE. Under this new title the, the attitudes seemed to change from a very conservative viewpoint to an “anything goes” outlook. Researchers were determined to find the ultimate truth drug, “leaving no stone unturned” (Lee 11). Agents were sent all over the gl

Some topics in this essay:
Services OSS, Operation ARTICHOKE, William Creasy, Project CHATTER, Initially LSD, Dr Gottlieb, War II, Dr Olson, Office Security, LSD Lee, mind control, operation artichoke, office security, truth serum, sandoz laboratories, chemical corps, influence lsd, speech inducing drug, psychochemical weapon, purpose team, army chemical, army chemical corps, sandoz laboratories switzerland, special purpose team, drinks laced lsd,