The following text was aired on Full Disclosure Live, 5.810 mHz,
2/7/94 on WWCR.  This text was posted on America On Line, under
Whitehouse Forum, upload/download libraries.  

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Human Experimentation

The media is full of new reports of government experiments on humans without 
their knowledge or consent. The media reports seem as if this revelation is 
new!

In 1984 or 85 I made a freedom of information act request with the Central 
Intelligence Agency for some records on various research projects. Because of 
the large volume of records involved, I spent some time reviewing the 
records, in person, in Roslyn, Virginia.

I looked over some 20 to 30 thousand pages of material and got copies of 
about 800 of those. I compiled the best 150 or so into a report, The CIA 
Papers, Volume 1: Blue Bird, Arichoke and MKULTRA.

These documents will be reviewed in this and the next ___ programs. Some of 
the documents are highly censored and therefore hard to read.

CIA MEMO DATED 17 DECEMBER 1963

Subject: Testing of Psychochemicals and related materials

1. At the conclusion of a meeting in your office on 29 November dealing with 
the problem of testing psychochemicals and related materials, you asked that 
I submit a short paper to you on this subject. In discussing this matter, I 
would appreciate it if you would consider two aspects of the problem:

a. For over a decade the Clandestine Services has had the mission of 
maintaining a capabiliy for influencing human behavor, and

b. Test arrangements in furtherence of this mission should be as 
operationally realistic and yet as controllable as possible.

2. Most of our difficulty stems from the fact that, in our opinion, the 
individuals to be subjected to testing must be unwitting. This unfortunately, 
is the only realistic method of maintaining the capability, considering the 
intended operational use of materials to influence human behavior. In the 
circumstances of potentional operational use of this technique, it is 
virtually certain that the target will be unwitting. Any testing program 
which does not attempt to approximate this real situation will be ``pro 
forma'' at best and result in a false sense of accomplishment and readiness.

3. If one grants the validity of the mission of maintaining this unusual 
capability and the necessity for unwitting testing, there is only then the 
question of how best to do it. Obviously, the testing should be conducted in 
such a manner as to permit the opportunity to observe the results of the 
administration on the target. It also goes without saying that whatever 
testing arrangement we adopt must afford maximum safeguards for the 
protection of the Agency's role in this activity, as well as minimizing the 
possibility of physical or emotional damage to the individual tested.

4. In considering possible alternatives to our present arrangement with the 
Bureau of Narcotics, we have considered the following:

a. Arrangements with one of several police departments located in the 
principal cities of the United States. Contacts between the Agency and police 
departments in [censored], for example, could be exploited.

b. Similar arrangements with prisons or prison hopsitals through contacts in 
the Department of Justice could be investigated.

c. Various foreign intelligence and/or security organizations having a 
current and continuing interrogation problem [censored] could be queried with 
this objective in mind.

5. I believe that none of the alternatives cited in the preceeding paragraph 
satisfies the requirements for an acceptable testing program Potential 
arrangements with local police departments necessitate the enlargement of the 
knowledgable group to include individuals involved in local politics with its 
attendant unacceptable security problems. Past experience with the Bureau of 
Prisons in the Department of Justice has established their unwillingness to 
participate in the programs involving unwitting subjects. We have attempted 
several times in the past ten years to establish a testing program in an 
overseas setting, using indigenous subjects. In every case the necessity of 
making an inordinate number of foreign nationals witting of our role in this 
very sensitive activity has made the program undesirable on security grounds.

6. Our present arrangements with the Bureau of Narcotics appear to me to be 
the most practical and secure method available to us to implement this 
program. While it is true that there is an element of risk in the present 
arrangement, it still affords us more security than any other method we can 
conceive.

7. In sum, if we are to maintain a capability for influencing human behavior, 
we are virtually obliged to test on unwitting humans. The best method for 
conducting these tests securely is our relationship with the Bureau of 
Narcotis -- an arrangement which has stood up through eight years of close 
collaboration. Continued attention to observation and control of the results 
of the testing, as feasable, would be exercised.

8. While I share your uneasiness and distaste for any program which tends to 
intrude on an individual's private and legal prerogatives, I believe it is 
necessary that the Agency retain a central role in this activity, keep 
current on enemy capabilites in the manipulation of human behavior, and 
maintain an offensive capability. I, therefore, recommend your approval for 
continuation of this testing program with the Bureau of Narcotics.

Richard Helms, Deputy Director for Plans.

-- Glen L. Roberts, Box 734, Antioch, Illinois 60002, Phone: (708) 356-9646