Health security

THAT TIME THE CIA SECRETLY DOSED AMERICANS WITH LSD

Ten scientists, some from the CIA, gathered in a cabin in Maryland for their semiannual review and conference in November 1953. On day two, a bottle of Cointreau — spiked with LSD — appeared; after it was emptied, Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA program director, informed his colleagues that they were in for a wild ride.

Although the men all seemed to weather their respective trips, things were about to take a turn for the worse. Gottlieb, according to a 1976 report, noticed nothing strange about fellow scientist Frank Olson before the dosing. That night, he had been chatty and boisterous, and all was well. But the next day, Olson appeared to be agitated, then depressed; later that month, he committed suicide, falling 10 stories from a hotel in Washington, D.C.