# Did the CIA invent acid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941 "2002-06-08T04:36:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Adam\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Adam\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adam_P)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/1 "2002-06-08T04:36:12Z")
I’ve heard that the CIA invented LSD in the late 50s. The reasons for their doing so seem sketchy but the basic idea is that they were attempting ot create some sort of Manchurian Candidate-style super-soldier…i.e. a soldier without fear or moral restrictions on his behavior. I’ve also heard that the drug was tested in a CIA -operated brothel in which clients were given the drug by prostitutes and then observed. True? On a related topic (CIA X-files weirdness) I’ve heard that the 50s CIA did extensive research into the paranormal. Specifically, telepathy and telekinesis. Any truth to that? ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/2 "2002-06-08T04:51:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I’ve heard that the CIA invented LSD in the late 50s [http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/CU46.html](http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/cu/CU46.html) > [@](#): > > Chapter 46. LSD is discovered > On the afternoon of April 16, 1943, Dr. Albert Hofmann, a chemist working at Sandoz Laboratories–– a pharmaceutical firm in Basel, Switzerland–– fell ill; and a few days later he recorded the curious nature of his illness in his notebook… [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/facttell/keyevent.htm](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/facttell/keyevent.htm) > [@](#): > > ## 1946 22 January President Truman signs a Presidential Directive establishing the Central Intelligence Group to operate under the direction of the National Intelligence Authority. Truman names the first Director of Central Intelligence, Rear Admiral Sidney W. Souers, USNR, who was sworn in on the following day. > > 1947 18 September > The National Security Act of 1947 establishes the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to replace the National Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence Group. Looks like the answer to your question is “No”, unless the CIA also had time travel. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/3 "2002-06-08T04:53:50Z")
LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman, but he didn’t discover its effects for five years. You may be interested in the Staff Report [Did the U.S. government fund psychic research?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mpsychicfed.html) ---
**Author:** ![ataraxy22](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ataraxy22/32/307_2.png) [@ataraxy22](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ataraxy22)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/4 "2002-06-08T04:55:32Z")
The whole story of the discovery of LSD, in the words of the discoverer, Albert Hofmann, himself can be found at: [http://hallucinogens.com/hofmann/index.html](http://hallucinogens.com/hofmann/index.html) Basically, he first synthesized in 1938 and (accidently) discovered its psychotropic properties in 1943. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/5 "2002-06-08T06:16:32Z")
Albert Hofman also had an intentional trip on Apr 19, 1943. > [@](#): > > _[From Erowid.](http://www.erowid.org/library/books/lsd_my_problem_child.shtml)_ > Now, little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux. Scenes from the first known intentional LSD trip. The book (LSD: My Problem Child (Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism, and Science), by Albert Hofman) described at the other end of my link bears the following blurb: A fascinating story by the world’s greatest organic chemist. – Dr. Timothy Leary Of course, _he’d_ think so. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/6 "2002-06-08T06:17:46Z")
They didn’t invent it, but they may have experimented with it to see if it could be used for mind control and other very strange sci-fi type experiments like the ones you describe. I’d provide a link, but I’m too tired. Try a google search for “MK ULTRA”, reportedly the code name for the experiments. I’m afraid I can’t verify for the veracity of these reports, either. I’d do the research, but again too tired. Very, very long day of study. Perhaps a fellow doper can take up the baton- ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/7 "2002-06-08T06:20:26Z")
Oh, and welcome to the board! ---
**Author:** ![zen101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c68b51/32.png) [@zen101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zen101)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2002, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/8 "2002-06-08T09:34:19Z")
For in depth info on this research the term “MK Ultra”. It was a CIA experiment in breaking agents and training “Manchurian Candidate” type sleepers. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/9 "2002-06-09T01:54:13Z")
For everything you want to know about the CIA’s involvement with MK-ULTRA & LSD, read:[**Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond**](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0802130623/qid=1023587143/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-2131622-5336734)\* by Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain\* > [@](#): > > _From Amazon’s “Spotlight Reviews”:_ > \*\* …a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable study of LSD and the CIA’s role in the cultural and political maelstrom of the 1960s. Over the past thirty years, from Watergate to Zippergate, Americans have learned that their government is capable of some pretty amazing shenanigans. That helps what we read in this book seem more plausible. What Lee and Shlain document in Acid Dreams, with an impressive volume of research, is the CIA’s enormous effort to develop mind-control methods. These included various psychedelic drugs–with LSD topping the list–hypnosis, and more. The potential uses of such control range from military to civilian–and to downright bizarre.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/10 "2002-06-09T04:44:12Z")
Well, **Mr. Frink** beat me to it. But I’ll go ahead and second that book. I read it about 5 or 6 years ago and if you are interested in knowing more about the government and acid in the 40’s and 50’s, this is the best source I know. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/11 "2002-06-09T05:02:12Z")
I’ve got an army-surplus cannister of BZ. That stuff’s a gas. \ ---
**Author:** ![Bromley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@Bromley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bromley)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-cia-invent-acid/112941/12 "2002-06-09T07:49:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Adam P. \* > \*\*On a related topic (CIA X-files weirdness) I’ve heard that the 50s CIA did extensive research into the paranormal. Specifically, telepathy and telekinesis. Any truth to that? \*\* I think it was the military who apparently conducted research on remote viewing (getting a psychic to scout an area for you) etc., although if they did then maybe the CIA had a shot at it as well. I believe that the project was codenamed “Stargate”, so do a search for that (don’t forget to include “-SG1” in the search, otherwise you might get the wrong idea 🙂 ).