Project MK-Ultra
Impacts of Use
Health impacts? Positive? Negative?
The first changes you will notice with LSD are the dilation of pupils, elevated temperatures, and blood pressure, and an increase in salivation. It disrupts the ability to concentrate, distorts the sense of time, and slows down thinking (Hart and Ksir, 2022).
Larger doses of LSD give the greatest reactions. Some examples of the reactions that can be expected are intense anxiety, paranoia, and psychosis. In addition, other factors need to be considered such as if the drug was taken in an anxiety-inducing environment (Hart and Ksir, 2022).
What were/are the economic impacts of the use of the drug by this culture?
LSD is illegal in the United States. In order to purchase LSD it needs to be done through illicit sources. It can be purchased illegally online on the dark web (Siebert, 2022).
What were/are the social impacts of someone using the drug?
LSD increases social adaptation to opinions that are similar to the user's (Duerler et. al, 2020).
How did/does this drug impact the culture/community?
"We don't know how many people died but a number did, and many lives were permanently destroyed"-Journalist Stephen Kinzer (Gross, 2019).
In 1974 the New York Times published an article that spotlighted the illegal activities of Project MK-Ultra. The following year, an investigation was conducted to uncover the truth about this operation (History.com, 2018).
The Church Committee was a larger investigation that looked further into the abuse of the CIA, FBI, and other U.S. intelligence agencies. It uncovered a great amount of evidence tied to the experiments conducted in MK-Ultra (History.com, 2018).
This led to President Ford's Executive Order that prohibits the use of drugs for experiments on human subjects. Unless given informed written consent that is witnessed by a disinterested party (History.com, 2018).
Purpose of Use
Medicinal?
It can be considered medicinal since they used LSD to try to achieve mind control. Gottlieb approached it in a two-step process. Blasting the existing mind was first. Then, he had to find a way to replace it with a mind that he could control (Gross, 2019).
Was/is using the drug considered a rite of passage?
Regarding Project MK-Ultra it was not a rite of passage. It is unclearly documented how many people underwent these experiments. (Gross, 2019).
Some people consented to LSD experiments. Some of these individuals included the Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and the notorious mobster James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger (History.com, 2018).
Were/are there religious or spiritual aspects to the drug use?
When LSD was being used to achieve mind control by CIA scientist Sidney Gottlieb it was not being used for spiritual needs (Gross, 2019).
Background
Was/is the drug legal in the culture?
LSD is illegal. It is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substance Act. This indicates that it has a high potential for abuse and does not have any medical use (Siebert, 2022).
Was/is use of the drug considered positive or negative by the culture?
Project MK-Ultra is considered a negative. The experiments conducted on patients included electroshock therapy, psychedelic drugs, and paralytics. It is clear that not everyone that participated in the experiments consented (Gross, 2019).
There is evidence that operations such as Midnight Climax existed that had little to no supervision. Midnight Climax was a project within MK-Ultra that used prostitutes to lure men into CIA safehouses. The men would be drugged and their reactions would be recorded. A CIA agent would sit behind a two-way mirror and take note of the men's behavior. It has been documented that these agents would indulge in a cocktail while performing their experiments (History.com, 2018).
What factors led to increased or decreased use of the drug in the culture?
Project MK-Ultra ran from 1953 to 1973. During the Cold War, the government, the CIA, wanted to test out mind control. There was a fear that the Chinese and North Korean agents were already using Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) to control the mind of US prisoners (Gross, 2019).
In the early 1950's the CIA paid $240,000 to purchase the world's entire supply of LSD. It was given to hospitals, clinics, prisons, and other institutions (Gross, 2019).
The CIA unintentionally brought LSD into the United States. From the time it was introduced and distributed it became widely popular. It gave way to the hippie culture (Gross, 2019).
