The co-founder of the Alcoholics Anonymous program originally considered promoting psychedelic drugs as a tool for alcoholics to help treat their addiction.
The post Revolutionary Clinical Trials Show Party Drug MDMA May Work to Cure Alcoholism appeared first on The Free Thought Project.
Thanks to the wealth created by cryptocurrency, breakthrough studies involving MDMA in the treatment of PTSD will soon be taking place.
Science is already showing that classic psychedelics can treat various mental illnesses, and now we"re finding clear benefits to society as well.
Your government will, indeed, perform experiments on you if it so chooses, and while some are undertaken with Nazi-esque malevolence — like the atrocities committed in the Tuskegee Study, a 40-year operation infecting innocent Black men with syphilis — others, like Midnight Climax, out the State’s utterly twisted flirtation with mind control.
Part of the notorious MKULTRA program, Midnight Climax — every bit as lascivious as one would expect from an agency founded in duplicity — might be one of the CIA’s most revealing experiments in thought control through substances, as well as its lesser-known entrée into the business of drugs and prostitution.
And now the corporate, mainstream media has finally decided to address the abhorrent crimes committed under the green light by nefarious CIA Director Allen Dulles — who signed off on MKULTRA and, thus, its iterations, on April 13, 1953.
One part in a series on the History Channel, America’s War on Drugs, reveals in documents and interviews how the CIA paid prostitutes to entice unwitting, working class johns with illicit sex in order to dose them unknowingly with pure LSD — acid, lysergic acid diethylamide, one of the psychedelics exploding into America’s drug scene in the 1960s — for the project known as Midnight Climax.
Amid fears The Russians might perfect mind control before the United States government could manage to do so, the CIA turned unapologetically to experiments with LSD, leaving victims none the wiser — setting up fake brothels in San Francisco and, later, Marin County, where hired prostitutes would bring the agency’s prey: the unremarkable men of the lower and working classes who would be unlikely to retaliate if anything went awry.
“The CIA was scared stiff the KGB was going to get all this LSD and come over and start dosing people,” Richard Stratton, a former hippie pot kingpin ultimately caught and imprisoned, explains of Midnight Climax for a preview of the History Channel show. “So, we bought every drop of LSD in existence at that point.
“They gave it to George White, and let George White start dosing people.”
Here CIA agent George White is separated from a prostitute and a man on acid by one glass window. #WarOnDrugs pic.twitter.com/bl3emf9SvP
— HISTORY (@HISTORY) June 10, 2017
George Hunter White, a federal narcotics agent and covert captain with the CIA precursor agency, Office of Strategic Services, sought to develop or discover a substance with potential to control the minds of prisoners-of-war — a reportedly failed attempt to best the KGB — so they would reveal privy and classified information upon interrogation.
“American chemist Sidney Gottlieb was the brains behind White’s brawn,” Troy Hooper wrote for SF Weekly in 2012. “It was the height of McCarthyism in the early ’50s, and government intelligence leaders, claiming fear of communist regimes, were using hallucinogens to induce confessions from prisoners of war held in Korea, and brainwash spies into changing allegiances. What better way to examine the effects of LSD than to dose unsuspecting citizens in New York City and San Francisco?”
Stocked with booze and attempting to mimic a “French whorehouse,” rooms in the agency’s bogus brothels — replete with images of women in bondage and prints by artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec — also came complete with two-way mirrors for operatives to kick back with martinis, watch the drug-fogged sexual activity, and scribble notes on what they observed.
“It was supposed to look rich, but it was furnished like crap,” a narcotics agent and frequent visitor to one of the elaborate brothels told John Marks, who authored, “The Search for the ‘Manchurian Candidate:’ The CIA and Mind Control.”
“An unsuspecting john would think he had bought a night of pleasure,” Marks penned, but would “go back to a strange apartment, and wind up zonked.”
Employing various code words and the sterile terminology to be expected of the CIA, agents recorded the encounters diligently — and although the bulk of those documents were destroyed in a purge of information on MKULTRA and Midnight Climax, seven boxes escaped the agency’s attention, surviving to provide insight into both those programs and the psychology of the agency.
One example, quoted by LewRockwell.com, states plainly,
“Certain individuals [the prostitutes] would covertly administer this material [the drugs] to other people [the johns] in accordance with [White’s] instructions.”
Knowing the prostitutes faced inherent risks in the operation and that the program could be derailed easily — particularly as its illegal nature might raise eyebrows around the agency and elsewhere — the CIA’s hired sex workers were not required to keep receipts or otherwise account for spent funds.
As such untenable toeing of the lines tends to do, Midnight Climax quickly devolved into an authoritarian operation, devoid of medical screening and care for its forced test subjects, and ultimately expanding to multiple brothels — and myriad drugs.
In fact, one of the first brothels set up by the CIA in New York City saw the program’s first tragedy — U.S. biological warfare specialist Frank Olson either lept or was pushed from a tenth-story window in 1953.
Sans sufficient scientific controls and medical pre-screening, a 1976 Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities asserted,
“Paradoxically, greater care seemed to have been taken for the safety of foreign nations against whom LSD was used abroad. In several cases [overseas] medical examinations were performed prior to the use of LSD. The [domestic] program … demonstrates a failure of the CIA’s leadership to pay adequate attention to the rights of individuals and to provide effective guidance to CIA employees. Though it was known that the testing was dangerous, the lives of subjects were placed in jeopardy and their rights were ignored during the 10 years of testing that followed Dr. Olson’s death.”
Indeed, Midnight Climax failed — and miserably, shamefully so.
No employable tactics in LSD were discovered and no efficacious counter-intelligence operations or methods were ever derived — but the program, and its parent MKULTRA certainly succeeded in ruining the lives of many of the program’s unfortunate victims.
SF Weekly reported,
“Testing of unwitting individuals was suspended in 1964 [after the discovery and outrage over the program by the CIA’s Inspector General the previous year], at least officially. Still, the CIA safe houses in San Francisco and New York City continued to operate for a year and a half longer. Scrutiny of the program intensified at CIA headquarters in Virginia, and subsequently the Bay Area safe houses shut down in 1965. New York City’s operation stopped in 1966. Intelligence officers conceded that the drug-testing exposed the agency to a serious ‘moral problem.’”
Considering the wholly egregious manifestation of Midnight Climax — its mendacious premise, disgustingly manipulative facets, and the eagerness with which depraved operatives carried out their tasks — it’s a wonder the CIA managed to concede it had dismissed scruples to carry out these human experiments.
It must be noted psychedelics, in themselves, are not necessarily harmful substances — it was the surreptitious slipping of LSD to victims without their knowledge and without medical screening or care which led to deleterious effects for an untold number of people which caused direct harm by the CIA.
READ MORE: The Govt Gives these Two People 10 Joints a Day for Life in a State Where Weed is Illegal
Programs like MKULTRA might have officially ended decades ago, but given the current climate of heightened xenophobia, Red Scare-anoia, and ruthless and unforgiving domestic surveillance, it would be imprudent — if not foolhardy — to grant the U.S. government a clean slate of trust.
To wit — and to what should be the consternation of the American public and a remarkably inarguable cause for citizen vigilance — White, who died in 1975, later recalled of the odious attempts at mind control,
“I toiled wholeheartedly in the vineyards because it was fun, fun, fun. Where else could a red-blooded American boy lie, kill, cheat, steal, rape and pillage with the sanction and blessing of the All-Highest?”
It appears that modern culture is embracing the exploration of generally “outlawed” treatments and brushing aside more commonly prescribed medicines to address certain health issues. On the heels of cannabis being recognized as a more widely accepted medicine, new research is pointing to psychedelics as effective medicine as well. A new groundbreaking documentary has recently been released utilizing much of this research, illustrating how once-abhorred psychedelics can act as a powerful tool to address overwhelming anxiety, depression and other debilitating effects that are prevalent in individuals facing terminal illness.
“A New Understanding: The Science of Psilocybin” is a documentary that takes an extensive look specifically at the drug psilocybin, derived from a variety of mushrooms, and how it shows promise in treating anxiety and depression terminally ill individuals. “My ambition is that the research documented in this film may in some manner help alleviate human suffering,” producer Robert J. Barnhart noted in a statement found on the documentary’s website.
The documentary is based on FDA-approved research studies from The Heffter Research Institute at UCLA, New York University, and John’s Hopkins University. What’s particularly remarkable about this documentary is the indication that psilocybin is not only effective for a number of people, but it produces results more quickly than more conventional antidepressants. This distinction is especially valuable for people with limited life expectancy, as one terminally ill patient remarked in the documentary that “what we did, it probably would have taken me years of therapy.”
Psychedelics have been recognized throughout history for its therapeutic uses, and countless individuals have used them as pathways to alter and expand consciousness and perception. Extensive research conducted over many years has long indicated varying degrees of support for what humans seem to have been aware of for thousands of years: psychedelics, like psilocybin mushrooms, are much more than a recreational adventure or escape from reality; for some, they serve a multitude of purposes to support overall mental wellbeing.
Recent reports in addition to the information contained in”A New Understanding” represent an encouraging renewal of interest in utilizing psychedelics to treat a plethora of issues related to mental health. A PBS Newshour episode, released in January, explored research into psychedelics as an option to help people suffering from anxiety related to terminal illness as well as PTSD. A Newsweek report, published in December 2016, provided additional insight into psilocybin as a solution for individuals suffering from cancer.
READ MORE: Scientists Just Took Images of the Brains of People on LSD and the Results are Revolutionary
Studies pointing to psilocybin as a substance that may greatly benefit individuals reaching the end of life parallel similar studies that suggest psilocybin may also benefit individuals who suffer from substance abuse, particularly opioid addiction. A new study, recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Journal of Psychopharmacology, noted that its results “suggest that psychedelics are associated with positive psychological characteristics and are consistent with prior reports suggesting efficacy in treatment of substance use disorders.”
Once we look at the potentially detrimental effects that psychedelics have on the bottom lines of pharmaceutical companies, it becomes blatantly obvious as to why government, who is beholden to these big pharma special interests, will kidnap and cage you for possessing them.
It remains to be seen whether the government will ease restrictions which would allow the medical community to make even further progress in exploring how psychedelics can ease suffering for people suffering from addiction. However, this newly available research appears to signal an encouraging and growing push for truly revolutionary treatments and solutions.
Watch the trailer, or the entire film below, now:
A New Understanding: The Science of Psilocybin from A New Understanding on Vimeo.
Before the War on Drugs cast its shadow across humanity, a collective mind expansion was being achieved in part thanks cannabis and psychedelics. For decades the military-corporatist state has suppressed the human right to ingest “illicit” substances – while profiting from this prohibition – but the pursuit of knowledge has a way of thriving despite fascism.
While research on the medicinal uses of cannabis has increased at a tremendous pace, therapeutic research into psychedelics has also garnered more interest in recent years. In 2014, advanced cancer patients “experienced immediate and dramatic reductions in anxiety and depression, improvements that were sustained for at least six months” with a single dose of psilocybin (the “magic mushroom” active ingredient).
Psilocybin is successfully treating patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In Dec. 2016, clinical trials showed that psilocybin can heal mental illness, such as depression and anxiety, like a “surgical intervention.”
Addiction, too, can be treated with psychedelics. Psilocybin has a far better success rate at helping people quit smoking cigarettes than any nicotine-replacement therapy. As one study participant said, “Smoking seemed irrelevant, so I stopped.” This comes as no surprise; in the 1960s and 70s LSD was being shown to help people overcome alcohol addiction.
The Drug Policy Alliance reports on a new study published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. According to the government’s own data, people who have experienced psilocybin or LSD have a “decreased risk of opioid abuse and dependence.”
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“Among respondents with a history of illicit opioid use, psychedelic drug use is associated with 27% reduced risk of past year opioid dependence and 40% reduced risk of past year opioid abuse. Other than marijuana use, which was associated with 55% reduced risk of past year opioid abuse, no other illicit drug was associated with reduced risk of past year opioid dependence or abuse.”
Researchers analyzed “44,000 illicit opioid users” from a six-year timeframe, finding a “pervasive and significant” association between psychedelic use and decreased opioid misuse. The authors note that their results are consistent with other studies showing psychedelics can treat substance use disorders.
What makes this study so glaring is the fact that it is based on six years of data from the federal government’s own National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which surveys 70,000 people each year.
How ironic that two drugs deemed illegal by the federal government – cannabis and psychedelics – clearly help people overcome addiction to legal opioid drugs and heroin.
As we reported in August 2015, a major study showed that deaths from prescription painkillers plummeted in states with legal cannabis. Other studies confirmed that the use of prescription pills drops in states with legal cannabis, which explains why big pharma fights against cannabis legalization.
Based on the facts, any measure to combat opioid abuse should include the use of medical cannabis. However, the Comprehensive Addiction & Recovery Act or ‘opioid bill’ passed by Congress in 2016 did not contain a single reference to cannabis, and lawmakers actually rejected an amendment to “potential for marijuana to serve as an alternative to opioids for pain management.”
READ MORE: VIDEO: Cops Thought they Smelled Weed, So they Broke into a House & Terrorized the Occupants
Clearly, there’s something about psilocybin and LSD and cannabis which, when taken responsibly, can allow a person to break free from strangleholds on life.
“I understand love is the most powerful force on the planet.”
“I had an encounter with my cancer, this black cloud of smoke.”
“I was bathed in God’s love, and that continued for hours. I really had no other way to describe this incredibly powerful experience.”
These are some quotes from people in clinical trials taking psychedelics, and the last one is from an atheist.
Albert Hofmann, who discovered LSD in 1938 and accidentally touched some with his finger, described the first-ever LSD trip as follows:
“At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors.”
The mystical experience of psilocybin described by patients can be thought of as the opposite of PTSD, where a single event has a lasting negative effect on the mental state.
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is helping to understand the mechanisms of how psychedelics can treat addiction and depression. Stimulation of serotonin 2A receptors by psychedelics decreases activity in certain areas of the brain, especially the “default mode network” (DMN) which is involved in our ingrained thought patterns and behaviors. Decreasing DMN stimulation can allow people to break free from destructive brain patterns.
READ MORE: States are Legalizing Pot at Increasing Rate, So Why is the Military Training to Combat Marijuana?
An exhaustive survey carried out by Johns Hopkins Medicine supports the conclusions of clinical research, finding that “A history of psychedelic drug use is associated with less psychological distress and fewer suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts…”
Fascinating research using fMRI shows that, under the influence of psilocybin, the brain enters a pattern of activity similar to the dream state. Primitive areas of the brain linked to emotions, memory and arousal become more synchronized, while higher-level thinking and the “sense of self” become unsynchronized.
As long as the nonsensical War on Drugs continues to be waged by government, the power of psychedelics to free people from opioid addiction and numerous other mental ailments will remain out of reach for millions.
