HIGH SPY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-01208R000100090027-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: September 1, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
`6
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100090027-5
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE-2- 0 ROLLING STONE
1 September 1983
MAGI NE A DIMLY LIT ROOK W ITH
the shades drawn and a quiet
ambiance. A heap of pharmaceu-
tical-grade cocaine is sitting
atop the desk. There are more
delicacies in the drawers: mush-
rooms, hash, an assortment of
pills and poppers, LSD. Even a
By Martin A. Lee
MARTIN A. LEE is finishing a book on the CIA
and the Sixties counterculture.
"We were not afraid to try things that
were never done before," explained OSS
chief William "Wild Bill" Donovan, who
was known for his freewheeling and uncon-
ventional approach to the cloak-and-dagger
trade. In the spring of 1942, Donovan as-
sembled a half-dozen prestigious American
scientists and asked them to come up with a
substance that could break down the psy-
ochological defenses of captured spies and
POWs, thereby causing an"uninhibited dis-
closure of classified information." 'Such a
drug would also be helpful for screening
OSS personnel to identify German syI#5path-
izers, double agents and potential misfits.
Dr. Winfred Overholser, superintendent
of St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington
D.C. was appointed chairman of the blue-
ribbon panel. Another member was Harry
Anslinger, the head of the Federal Bureau of
Narcotics. The research committee sur-
veyed and rejected numerous drugs, includ-
ing alcohol, barbiturates and caffeine.
Peyote and scopolamine were also tested, but
the visions and hallucinations produced by
these substances hindered the interrogation
process. Eventually, marijuana was chosen as
the most likely candidate for a speech-in-
ducing agent.
OSS scientists created a highly potent
extract of cannabis, and a clear and viscous
liquid was obtained through a process
known as esterification. The final product
had no color, odor or taste.This would make
it nearly impossible to detect when adminis-
tered surreptitiously, which is exactly what
the spy troop intended to do. "There is no
reason to believe that any other nation or
group is familiar with the preparation of this
particular drug,' states a once-classified
OSS document. Henceforth, the OSS re-
ferred to the marijuana extract as TD-a
transparent nickname for Truth Drug.
Various ways of administering TD were
small stash of heroin. And safely ensconced
in the closet is a tank of nitrous oxide.
Some might findluch a place a doper's'
dream. But not quite. For. this Eden of altered
states is actually the unholy confines of a
Central Intelligence Agency laboratory.
People who came of age during the Six
ties might he surprised to learn that the CIA'
and the U.S. military were into recreational
drugs long before those of the Woodstock,
generation toddled out of their cribs. And'
according to documents largely obtained
through the Freedom of Information Act,
America's spy masters literally sampled
every conceivable "feelgood": cocaine,
speed, marijuana, downers, laughing gas,
amyl nitrate, psychedelics. What's more, the
government chemists are currently testing
new drugs that might only show up on the
streets years from now
Of course, the CIA and the army did not
think in terms of kicks, religious experiences
or creative buzz patterns. On the contrary,
their purpose was explicitly sinister: to de-
velop,wcapons that would blow minds and
control behavior, in order to gain strategic
advantages over potential enemies Hun-
dreds of millions of dollars were devoted to
this pursuit, which drew upon the talents of
scientists at a wide range of research institu-
tions.The results were sometimes surprising,.
occasionally amusing, but, more often than
not, deadly serious
tried on both willing and unsuspecting sub-
jects. For example, OSS operatives found
that the medicated goo could "be injected
into any type of food, such as mashed pota-
toes, butter, salad dressing, or in such things
as candy." But what if a person had a particu-
larly ravenous appetite? Too much TD
could knock a subject out and render him
useless for interrogation. The OSS eventu-
ally determined that the best approach in-
volved using a hypodermic syringe to inject a
diluted TD solution into a cigarette or cigar.
After having a smoke, the subject would get
suitably stoned, at which point a skillful
interrogator would move in.
The effects of TD.are described in an
OSS report: "The drug appears to relax all
inhibitions and to deaden the areas of the
brain which govern an individual's discretion
and caution. It also accentuates the senses
and makes manifest any strong characteris-
tics of the individual. Sexual inhibitions are
lowered, and the sense of humor is accen-
tuated to the point where any statement-or
situation can become extremely funny to the
subject. On the other hand, a person's un-
pleasant characteristics may also he height-
ened. It may be stated that, generally speak-
ing, the reaction will be one of great loquaci-
ty and hilarity." A rather mild and playful
assessment compared to the public rantings
of narcotics chief Harry Anslinger, who
orchestrated an unrelenting media cam-
paign against "the killer weed."
After OSS agents tested TD on them-
selves, their associates and U.S. military per-
sonnel, they utilized the drug operationally,
although on a limited basis. The results were
mixed. In certain instances, TD subjects felt
a driving necessity "to discuss psychologi-
cally charged topics. Whatever the individu-
al is trying to withhold will be forced to the
top of his subconscious mind." But there
were also those who experienced "toxic reac-
tions" One unsuspecting doper became
irritable and threatening, and complained
that he felt like "two different people." The
peculiar nature of his symptoms precluded
any attempt to question him.
IT ALL STARTED DURING WORLD WAR 11,
when the office ofStrategic Services (OSS),
the CLAs predecessor, undertook a top-se-
cret research program to develop a speech-
inducing drug for use in intelligence inter-
rogations. This was the first concerted at-
tempt on the part of an American espionage
organization in modify human behavior
through chemical mean's.
~ I CQ- AT" u, E.;)
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/02/22 : CIA-RDP90-01208R000100090027-5