The discovery of LSD’s hallucinogenic properties coincided with the beginning of the Cold War. Fearing potential mind control tactics from the Soviet Union, the CIA engaged in experiments using LSD, hypnosis, and other drugs on unknowing subjects [5]. There were 144 experiments under a variety of different names, but broadly these experiments were known as Project MK Ultra [2]. Although Project MK Ultra is shrouded in secrecy, it is known that Project MK Ultra involved deeply unethical experiments.
“The MKULTRA activity is concerned with the research and development of chemical, biological, and radiological materials capable of employment in clandestine operations to control human behavior.”
-Report Of MK Ultra inspection, 1963 [6]
Violation of Bioethical Principles
Project MK Ultra often relied on unknowing volunteers from vulnerable populations including prostitutes, inmates, and terminally ill cancer patients [2]. Per former CIA Director, Richard Helms, the aim behind this was to be able to observe natural reactions to the experiments and to transfer the potential results of mind control to the field against the Soviets [2]. There were no written contracts for secrecy’s sake and there was a lack of informed consent on the part of the subjects [1]. Despite not having any significant findings related to mind control, discovering a viable “truth drug,” and causing great emotional distress to subjects, these unethical experiments with LSD continued throughout the ‘50s [7].
In one separate project, Dr. Harris Isbell tested over 800 psychoactive drugs on prisoners with a history of drug addiction in exchange for a reward of their choice of drug [2]. Given their vulnerable position, there was no opportunity for withdrawal from the experiment. There was also a lack of informed consent about the side effects of the experiment [7]. Patient wellbeing was not even a consideration; for example, the subjects under Dr. Isbell were kept awake for 77 consecutive days using electrical shocks [2].
Another subproject of MK Ultra led to the mysterious death of Dr. Frank Olson in 1953. Dr. Olson had been working for the Army Chemical Corps Special Operations Division and attended a CIA sponsored retreat that was covertly poisoning the participants with LSD [7]. As a result of the experiment, Dr. Olson began showing signs of depression and paranoia and died nine days later after having fallen out of the thirteen floor of a hotel [3]. In 1981, Gerald Ford met with the Olson family to apologize and pay a settlement, the equivalent of 3.8 million dollars today [4]. At the time, Dr. Frank Olson’s death had been ruled a suicide. However, since then new evidence has emerged which has cast the entire case of Dr. Olson in a far more dubious light; upon exhumation in 1994, a third-party forensic expert’s autopsy revealed that Dr. Olson had been killed by a blow to the head [3].
“Frank Olson was experimented upon illegally and negligently. Second, the true nature of his death was concealed for twenty-two years. . . . In telling our story, we are concerned that neither the personal pain this family has experienced nor the moral and political outrage we feel will be slighted.” -statement by Alice Olson and her family [7].
The Collapse of MK Ultra
Project MK Ultra was shut down in 1963 by former CIA Inspector John Vance after the unethical nature of the experiments was revealed to him [1]. In 1977, Senator Edward Kennedy led hearings investigating Project MK Ultra’s ethical conduct, but exposing the truth was difficult to uncover as the tracks were covered. Under the guise of patient confidentiality, records from the project had been destroyed by Richard Helms a few years prior to the hearing. It was also cumbersome to rely on witness accounts as ex-CIA members refused to provide their insights on Project MK Ultra.
“The Intelligence community of this Nation, which requires a shroud of secrecy in order to operate, has a very sacred trust from the American people. The CIA’s program of human experimentation of the fifties and sixties violated that trust. It was violated again on the day the bulk of the agency’s records were destroyed in 1973. It is violated each time a responsible official refuses to recollect the details of the program.” -Senator Edward Kennedy, 1977
The great irony surrounding LSD is that the CIA introduced the drug to America before vehemently criminalizing it. In preparation for MK Ultra’s experiments, CIA director Allen Dulles approved buying all of the world’s supply of LSD from its country of invention, Switzerland [7]. Project MK Ultra’s closure came several years before President Richard Nixon’s infamous War on Drugs that caused and continues to cause devastation to millions of lives. Project MK Ultra displayed the hidden hypocrisy of our government: it presented itself as embodying the ideals of freedom on the outside when in reality disregarded patient autonomy. And yet, all of the unethical actions of the CIA were justified under the facade of national security.
References:
Brianna Nofil, “The CIA’s Appalling Human Experiments with Mind Control,” History. https://www.history.com/mkultra-operation-midnight-climax-cia-lsd-experiments
Linville, Tani M., "Project MKULTRA and the Search for Mind Control: Clandestine Use of LSD Within the CIA" (2016). History Capstone Research Papers. 6. https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/history_capstones/6
Kuzmarov, Jeremy (2020) "”There’s Something Rotten in Denmark:” Frank Olson and the Macabre Fate of a CIA Whistleblower in the Early Cold War," Class, Race and Corporate Power: Vol. 8 : Iss. 1 , Article 3. DOI: 10.25148/CRCP.7.2.008926 https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/classracecorporatepower/vol8/iss1/3
“Memorandum for the Record 1953,” Frank Olson Project. https://frankolsonproject.org/staging01/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/1953-june-9-mkultra.jpg
“Senate Select Committee Request,” CIA, 1975. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP83-01042R000800010008-6.pdf
“Memorandum: Report of Inspection of MKULTRA,” CIA, July 26, 1963 https://info.publicintelligence.net/CIA-MKULTRA-IG.pdf
John Marks, “The Search For the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control,” 1979. https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/12/129E144131F2E093FB1E441C737ACF92_SearchForTheManchurianCandidate.rtf.pdf
James Risen, “Suit Planned Over Death of Man CIA Drugged,” The New York Times, November 26, 2012. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/us/family-of-frank-olson-man-drugged-by-cia-plans-suit.html
