In the course of my research into the U.S. Army LSD tests (see Lobster 23) among the U.S. Army records, I encountered a few vague references to similar experiments conducted in the U.K..
On February 28, 1993 I faxed a letter to Dr. Graham S. Pearson, the Director of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) requesting information on the LSD tests and experiments on human volunteers. After two weeks I had no response. In a telephone inquiry, one of the CBDE senior executives confirmed the receipt of my letter and informed me that since Graham Pearson was away I would receive a reply as soon as he returned. Months then passed.
On May 13 I wrote to my MP, enclosing a copy of my letter to the CBDE, seeking his assistance. Once more I had no reply. On July 21 I wrote to Prime Minister John Major complaining of the lack of response and the lack of openness in his administration. This time the answer was swift. On August 2 No. 10 Downing St sent me the standard response, informing me that my letter was ‘receiving attention. A reply will be sent to you as soon as possible.’ Two days leter I received a short note from William Waldegrave’s office in the Cabinet Office assuring me of the same thing. Finally, after another two months, I received the following letter from Graham Pearson, the Director of CBDE, dated October 7.
7 October 1993
Dear Dr Victorian,
- Your letter to the Prime Minister concerning your research project into the use of the hallucinogenic drug lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment. We have checked our records and have found no trace of your letter of 1 March 1993 although we book in all letters and I would certainly have sent you an acknowledgement.
- My reply only covers research work carried out by CBDE on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, as we do not have any information on whether any research was carried out on LSD by other Government Departments and other Governments.
- The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment and of its precursor Establishment the Chemical Defence Establishment and before that the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment is to carry out research to ensure that the UK Armed Forces are provided with effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As part of that programme, evaluation is carried out of the potential hazard from chemicals that may be utilised by an aggressor as a chemical warfare agent.
- An appreciation of the effects of LSD on man and the knowledge that LSD could be synthesised led to research in the 1960s into whether LSD might be used by an aggressor as an incapitating CW agent and one which might lead to the loss of will to fight. The work carried out at CBDE Porton Down was solely to determine what protective measures were appropriate and were largely concerned in assessing the effects of LSD on troops in a military setting, where the behaviour of volunteers who had taken LSD was compared with that of control volunteers who had not taken LSD. All volunteers were subject to stringent medical and psycholgical screening.
- Work and studies on LSD took place between 1961 and 1972 and included 72 service volunteers who were involved in laboratory and field trials. The assessment was made that although LSD could be synthesised, it was very expensive and being a solid it would be difficult to disseminate further and as the effects were not highly predictable, the conclusion was reached that LSD would not present a significant battlefield hazard.
- The results from this work and studies are part of the information held by the Establishment in the feld of evaluation of the potential hazard to Service personnel from possible chemical warfare agents. This information is drawn upon in the agreement with our NATO allies to exchange information and so promote collaboration and cooperation in areas such as research and development in chemical and biological defence.
- I regret that we are able to help you in respect of your inquiry concerning experiments conducted in other countries.
Yours sincerely,
Graham Pearson
Graham Pearson’s letter clarifies some areas about which we had no confirmed information and raises some questions. Officially the U.S. Army conducted their first overseas LSD test during Operation Third Chance in 1961 and terminated all their LSD experiments in 1963, after Operation Derby Hat. (On these see Lobster 23) Their European counterparts (NATO allies), including the U.K., were briefed about the nature of their operation. It is now clear that when the U.S. Army abandoned LSD tests, their British counterparts, CBDE, took over and continued the experiments.
As their records show, the U.S. Army experiments were mostly designed to evaluate the offensive and behavioural effects of LSD.
Considering the weight of previous data supplied by the U.S. in this field, Graham Pearson’s account of the CBDE’s being ‘solely to determine what protective measures were appropriate’ may seem surprising. From the American data available to them, CBDE must have known about the effectiveness of LSD. Why, despite the mountain of evidence already compiled on LSD, did the CBDE conduct further human experiments?