LSD experiments by the United States Army

Between 1955 and 1967, the US Army conducted extensive LSD testing on soldiers at Edgewood Arsenal and other sites. Official reports, including the 2003 Veterans Health Initiative Report, have minimized the short- and long-term side effects of this testing, but the reports themselves document frequent and severe complications that the Army attributed directly to LSD exposure. Given renewed psychiatric interest in hallucinogens, the authors argue that the sanitized official account should be replaced with a more accurate description of the harm suffered by soldiers.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Extensive LSD testing was conducted by the US Army at Edgewood Arsenal and other locations from 1955 to 1967. A number of different reports have been produced describing the health effects of this testing, including the Veterans Health Initiative Report in 2003. By and large, these reports gloss over and minimize the short and long-term side effects and complications of this testing. However, the reports themselves document frequent, severe complications of the LSD. These side effects were regarded by the Army as having been directly caused by the LSD exposure. In view of the current resurgence of interest in hallucinogens within psychiatry, the sanitized version of the effects of LSD exposure on US soldiers needs to be replaced with a more accurate account.