# Giving milk to a heroin addict in withdrawal, and controlling people with LSD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793 "2014-02-07T22:14:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/1 "2014-02-07T22:14:09Z")
For some time now, I’ve been downloading OTR episodes of detective dramas including _Dragnet_, which sometimes dealt with the topic of drug violators. Usually the drug in question is heroin, and a typical scenario is that, as the addict in custody enters the throes of withdrawal, he’s given a glass of milk. Now I love a nice cold glass of fresh milk as much as anyone, but is there something about it that makes it specifically useful in opiate withdrawal, or is it just meant to provide nutrition, as addicts may often neglect their other bodily needs for food and water? Is the addict usually able to keep milk down? Another drug-related trope from the 1960s was “controlling people through LSD”. IRL this notion was advanced in the course of the Manson family prosecutions, and it was a fictional plot device as well. In the now almost forgotten exploitation film _Wild In The Streets_, a kind of youth-fascist party takes over the government “with the help of LSD”, as one synopsis puts it. My experience being around people who were tripping does not lead me to think that LSD would help anyone _control_ them; in order to control someone you need to make them do things, and I don’t see how tripping on acid was supposed to make you compliant and willing to jump up and perform tasks. In the case of the Manson gang, is there really any sound basis for the idea that LSD was an instrument of control? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/2 "2014-02-07T22:22:32Z")
I think it is plausible (based on my experience) that LSD could, in many circumstances, make people more suggestible than they might otherwise be, and that may well have been one of the factors operating in the Manson family. It probably helped Charlie get inside his victims’ heads. I can’t imagine it could be effectively used as a means of mass social control, though. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/3 "2014-02-07T22:54:14Z")
The government certainly tried using LSD (among other things) to exert mind control. If you’ve never heard of MKULTRA, prepare to enter a bizzaro world where bizzaro conspiracy theories are actually true. [Here’s a wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mk_ultra): > [@](#): > > Project MKUltra is the code name of a U.S. government human research operation experimenting in the behavioral engineering of humans through the CIA’s Scientific Intelligence Division. The CIA project was coordinated with the Special Operations Division of the Army’s Chemical Corps… … The program engaged in many illegal activities; in particular it used unwitting U.S. and Canadian citizens as its test subjects … MKUltra used numerous methodologies to manipulate people’s mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious administration of drugs (especially LSD) and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as various forms of torture. Again, if you’ve never heard of it, prepare yourself for some astounding moments of “holy shit, they actually did that?!” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/4 "2014-02-08T00:05:58Z")
Well, [military testing of LSD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-rWnQphPdQ) doesn’t seem to speak for it’s usefulness as a straight up mind-control zombie drug. Eh, s’okay, that’s what these tests are _for_. 😉 Maybe if used with some other forms of indoctrination or cultish psychological manipulation, or like **njtt** said, to increase suggestibility. Or maybe even “you liked your mystical psychedelic trip? Good—and if you do what I say, I’ll give you _more_ drugs.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/5 "2014-02-08T00:56:42Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Or maybe even “you liked your mystical psychedelic trip? Good—and if you do what I say, I’ll give you _more_ drugs.” I could see this happening with an addictive drug like heroin. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/6 "2014-02-08T01:05:37Z")
[Cracked: The CIA’s 5 Most Mind Blowing Experiments With LSD](http://www.cracked.com/blog/five-fun-facts-about-the-cia-and-lsd/) Having dabbled with LSD frequently in my youth, I can’t imagine how that drug could lead to any kind of effective mind control. But it would’ve been nice if the C.I.A. gave me a glowing magical broadsword to fight the twelve-headed dragons with. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/7 "2014-02-08T01:28:46Z")
Come to think of it, and as evil as it is, I must say that without the CIA there never would have been a bus to get on. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/8 "2014-02-08T02:32:21Z")
I assume that the “milk” was actually an oral dose of methadone or similar drug. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/9 "2014-02-09T01:36:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I assume that the “milk” was actually an oral dose of methadone or similar drug. No, definitely not. In one scene Friday specifically asks his partner to go across the street to buy a couple of bottles of milk. I doubt that any PD is or was ever allowed to administer any kind of prescription drug or controlled substance to suspects. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/10 "2014-02-09T03:45:37Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > No, definitely not. In one scene Friday specifically asks his partner to go across the street to buy a couple of bottles of milk. > > I doubt that any PD is or was ever allowed to administer any kind of prescription drug or controlled substance to suspects. I always assumed it was just meant to be nourishing for somebody strung out, but would love to hear if there’s more to it. This is the era where you gave somebody coffee to sober them up, as well. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/11 "2014-02-09T04:10:53Z")
Milk contains casein, which breaks down into the opiod [casomorphin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casomorphin). It supposedly keeps calves calm when they are nursing. Maybe it has the same affect on people? I know a tall glass of milk makes me feel relaxed. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/12 "2014-02-09T04:59:32Z")
Yeeah, not so much. On all of it. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/13 "2014-02-09T05:05:46Z")
I have been around quite a few heroin addicts comming off heroin and have not witnessed any kind of abnormal use of milk. I do know that other addicts will sometimes shoot up milk into someones vein who has over dosed. I don’t know if it has ever saved anyone or not. Might just be one of those things that goes around but doesn’t really work. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giving-milk-to-a-heroin-addict-in-withdrawal-and-controlling-people-with-lsd/680793/14 "2014-02-09T05:59:55Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Milk contains casein, which breaks down into the opiod [casomorphin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casomorphin). It supposedly keeps calves calm when they are nursing. Maybe it has the same affect on people? It certainly seems to work on babies pretty well!