One of the most well-known examples of such abuses occurred during the CIA’s MK-Ultra programme, a secret research project conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from the 1950s to the early 1970s. It involved experimentation on human subjects in order to develop techniques for mind control and interrogation.
Methods included drug administration, sensory deprivation and other forms of torture. In some of these experiments, subjects were given high doses of LSD and other drugs without their consent, and many experienced severe psychological trauma as a result.
Over 80 public and private research institutions were provided with MKUltra CIA funds (knowingly and unknowingly), to conduct human experimental research with LSD on civilians, prisoners and patients.
The programme was ultimately uncovered and terminated, but the entire scope of its operations is still unknown. Richard Helms, the head of the CIA, destroyed much of the programme’s records, but some were left behind and came to light during numerous hearings before the US Senate.
At the same time these experiments were taking place, the Declaration of Helsinki was adopted by the World Medical Association as a set of ethical guidelines to govern medical research using human subjects.
It was first presented in 1964 and has since undergone multiple revisions, with the most current one appearing in 2013. Respect for human dignity, informed consent, openness in research and defense of weaker groups are among the guiding ideals. They act as a framework to guarantee that research is conducted ethically and that human rights are upheld.
In a recent article published in 2021, Dana Strauss and colleagues conducted a literature review of the first wave of psychedelic research (1950-1980). The researchers set out to assess to what extent vulnerable populations were unduly exploited. They assessed recruitment strategies, study methodologies and experiment safety.
They found that many studies used high-risk dosing schedules with neglect for set and setting – a vital aspect of care during a psychedelic trip. People of color and prisoners were exploited in early research, with a lack of attention paid to informed consent and differential treatment based on race, concluding that many of the studies conducted during this first wave of research would not have passed an ethical review board today.
As we enter a new psychedelic renaissance, the article urges researchers to uphold current ethical standards, put great effort into creating a comfortable set and setting and to develop culturally informed practices so that these mental health treatments can be broadly applied to a diverse society.
This article was first published on Nina’s Notes on 5 April 2023 and is republished on Psychedelic Health with permission.
