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Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)--also known by the street names of acid, candy, cube, instant Zen, sugar, California sunshine, orange mushroom, mellow yellow, purple haze--is a white, odourless, tasteless powder, and considered one of the most potent mindaltering chemicals known to man. First synthesized in 1938 by chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann, it lay dormant on the shelf until a serendipitous event in 1943. It was accidentally absorbed through Dr. Hofmann's fingertips, and he went on to record the first "acid trip."
Who could have guessed, years later, it would be enlisted in the service of U.S. national security in the form of government-operated LSD whorehouses?
During the 1950s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had authorized project MK-Ultra, a research program designed to test and perfect truth serums, interrogation drugs and mind-controlling techniques and pharmaceuticals. The idea was conceived by Richard Helms of the Clandestine Services Department, with Dr. Sidney Gottlieb placed in charge of MK-Ultra. This was the same Dr. Gottlieb who, as head of MK-Ultra, sponsored Montreal neurologist Dr. Ewen Cameron's infamous clinical work with deep sleep and "psychic driving."
MK-Ultra experimented with barbiturates, morphine, cocaine, peyote, mescaline, marijuana, caffeine and hypnosis, but it was LSD that really caught its attention. Recognized by the CIA years before it was popularized by the drug cult led by acid guru Timothy Leary, beat poet Allen Ginsberg and novelist Ken Kesey, LSD seemed to have unlimited espionage and chemical weaponry potential.
Initially, CIA operatives agreed to slip LSD into each other's drinks, with the provision being they would never know when it would be...