Doc 0000151539

.. 29 December 1955 MEMORAEDUM FOR: TEE RECORD SUBJECT: v1·s:it V:itli Dr. Isbell at Lexington, Kentuck-y 1. One purpose of this visit was to introduce (b) f:J} to Dr. Isbell and·to get tb:e benefit of Dr. Isbell's mmrledge and experience in the alcohol problem. This was done a.nd will be covere?- by P (fJJ(J). 's report. 2. In the antidote work on LSD, Dr. Isbell reported that he had conducted several more tests with Frenquel under the supervision of Dr. Fab,ing and under true double blind conditions. He said that although he does not yet ho.ve the dose key back from Merrill and co., none of the doses produced effects which waul~ lead ~ to believe any antidote effect had been found. He said also that so far the partial blocking effect of chlorpromazine is the only clue in this field. 3 • Nm still:·· is pursuing the work on bUroten!ne and after worJ:..ing up to l gram of Cohoba Snuff with no effects in the men bu.t sneeZil"..g, Dr. Isbell reports that he has gotten up to high doses of bufotenine I.V. ~uite with no results a~ yet. He said that Fab~ing told him that he had worked up to doses of it:7tha.t caused the men to turn blue in the face at '"hich point n short-lived psychotic episode was precipitated. In addition to this vork, Nm has ~ent nr; Isbell a qua..."'l.tity of Rivea seeds for testing in his men. came Dr. Kety, who described the effects were T~ese fr~ th~t obtained by Dr. Cochin of NIH using a hot k~ Bel extract of the seeds in animal tests on cats, r~ts~ pigeons, and dog~: ~ne chief reacticns see~ed to be sedation w~th catatonia and analgesia Without producir~ sleep, dila tation of pupils, and anorexia. There seemed to be a \-Tide· margin bettl"een effectiY e and.. le;thal ·lose and effects were obtllined with o.counts oi' the order of 50 seeds per dog indicating a relatively high potency. I described our progress in this field to Dr. Isbell and he agreed to give us the results of his tests and to test the gluco-alka.loid which was obtained from Rivea by Dr. Cook when it has been run on animals. 4. In connection vith small an!.:r.o.l testing, Dr. Isbell s.aid that he felt that the drugs could certainly be in such a halluci~atory scree~ed way. He pointed out that the The image is a digital representation of a document stating it was obtained from "The Black Vault," an online repository of declassified government documents. The page features a stylized title, "THE BLACK VAULT," in white, glowing font against a dark background. To the left, an illustration depicts a secure vault door with intricate mechanisms and a blue glow. The text below the title explains that this document is part of the MKULTRA/Mind Control Collection, housing over 20,000 declassified pages from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and provides a URL for online access. There are no photographs, handwritten annotations, official stamps, forms, diagrams, tables, or redactions visible on this page. and to test the gluco-alka.loid which was obtained from Rivea by Dr. Cook when it has been run on animals. 4. In connection vith small an!.:r.o.l testing, Dr. Isbell s.aid that he felt that the drugs could certainly be in such a halluci~atory scree~ed way. He pointed out that the psychologists at the hospital had prcd1.lced amphetamine hallucinations in their conditi.oned rats such that the rs.ts . would 'push an ima.gina.z;r bsr in the Sldn.."ler box a.nd ·eat imaginary fooC.. Also he felt that the loss of .., ;ild.ness and biting :-eflex monkeys, etc., in·r~tG, as veli as other indica:tions, suggested by Dr. Pelikan were valid indicators of haliucinatorJ a.cti·;ity. 5. I asked Dr. Isbell about the use of 1-d.rotleran as an alcohol extender and he agreed that this should be ef'fe.ctive and quite safe. Re · noted th::1.t lioffll'.a.n La Rocha has a ne·,., derivati· :e, · N-:pC.eaethyl-1-d::..·c::~:::.·c.n. which is 3 tiz:les as potent as 1-d.rc:ner::m o.nd should also be ore.ll:,-- ef:"'ecr.i ve. He agreed to test this. H'e also discussed the use of this :nc.teri~l c.r:d../cr reserpine and scopolar:dne in con.junction with chloral in the K material. He recommende~ that I sts=t so:e animal work on suca materials indi~ati~g A-:;.; v Ftt · . assifi4d ~1B7m._ • Oafe t .4- . I a '"'".' 7 r ,.... r!: t... ,:;, 2 - .. that reserptt::.e should potentiate chlora.l and alcohol as well as bo.rbiturateo. and that tee potenti~tion might be in dur~tion and/or~depth of sleep. 6. A :report on the reserpine plus !.SD will 'be .avB.ilnble soon. YO!'k There to be a potentiation of the LSQ effect such that in some appear~ cases 6 mg. reserpine given in 3 - 2 ~~-· portions I.M. d~ring 24 hours pre~eaing 60 .u~~. LSD brouGht on re~ctions usually seen at about the 150 U~. level of LSD. Dr. Isbell w~~ts to dete~ne whether or not the usual toler!!nce to LSD can be c.voided by combination with reserpine before. he :finishes his study. 7. A number of other matters were disposed of' during the rneeting. · These included the ordering of another gram of LSD, plans to test the Lilly soon as Dr. Pfeiffer has with it, to check ~terial ~s finis~ed ~nd pl~~s suspected variations in of various ·batches of Sandoz LSD. poter•c:~ 8. Finally, I gave D~. I~bell a briefing on our relationship and projected plans vis-a-vis Dr. Baldwin and This page is a typewritten memorandum dated December 29, 1955, with official stamps and handwritten annotations. The primary visual element is the body of text detailing a visit with Dr. Isbell concerning his research on LSD, bufotenine, and other substances. There are several handwritten marks, including a circle with a number inside near the date, and additions to some of the typed numbers. A "Declassified" stamp with dates and a reference number is present at the bottom, along with a handwritten "A-210" note which may be a document identifier. There are also small, obscured areas of content, indicating redactions made during the declassification process. gram of LSD, plans to test the Lilly soon as Dr. Pfeiffer has with it, to check ~terial ~s finis~ed ~nd pl~~s suspected variations in of various ·batches of Sandoz LSD. poter•c:~ 8. Finally, I gave D~. I~bell a briefing on our relationship and projected plans vis-a-vis Dr. Baldwin and asked him for his opinion on .. this approach to our problems suggesting at the same time that he eight vish to tall: to Dr. ~Ukler about 1 t. . Ee agreed that Dr. '.olikler would be able to give us soma sound help in arriving at a decision indicated ~~d that his first feeling the program was that it would be of value 0~11 ~bout to us in many vay~remembering at the same time that it WOl.lld. be a large e.nd. costly undert:11dng "1-ihich .no dou'9_.t ••ould have to run for an extended period. in time. E:e also felt that Hili should be willing to bear considerable of the cost though. . ., / Distribution: Orig & L - TSS/CD .. bec!assified b Ciate ;. 4 .,._Y -1874~ . 79''7 - - !":-'=! , This document is a typewritten page with several handwritten annotations. In the top right corner, there is a handwritten "A-20". Near the bottom right, there is a "Declassified by" stamp with a handwritten date of "4 FEB 1977" and a handwritten number "187475". There are several dark, irregular black smudges over some text in the lower middle section of the page. The rest of the page contains typed text, with some very faint circular marks at the top, possibly from a copier or scanner. There are no photographs, diagrams, or tables visible.