Psychochemical warfareinvolves the use ofpsychopharmacologicalagents (mind-altering drugs or chemicals) with the intention of incapacitating an adversary through the temporary induction ofhallucinationsordelirium.[1][2]These agents, often called "drug weapons",are generally consideredchemical weaponsand, more narrowly, constitute a specific type ofincapacitating agent.
Although never developed into an effective weapons system, psychochemical warfare theory and research—along with overlappingmind controldrug research—was secretly pursued in the mid-20th century by theUS militaryandCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA) in the context of theCold War.These research programs were ended when they came to light and generated controversy in the 1970s. The degree to which theSoviet Uniondeveloped or deployed similar agents during the same period remains largely unknown.
History
editAncient psycho-chemical use
editThe use of chemicals to induce altered states of mind dates back to antiquity and includes the use of plants such as thornapple (Datura stramonium) that contain combinations ofanticholinergic alkaloids.In 184 B.C.,Hannibal's army usedbelladonnaplants to induce disorientation.[citation needed]
Use by indigenous peoples
editRecords indicate that in 1611, in the BritishJamestown Colonyof Virginia, an unidentified, but toxic and hallucinogenic, drug derived from local plants was deployed with some success against the white settlers byChief Powhatan.[3]
In 1881, members of a French railway surveying expedition crossingTuaregterritory in North Africa ate dried dates that tribesmen had apparently deliberately contaminated with Egyptian henbane (Hyoscyamus muticus,orH. falezlez), to devastating effect.[4]
Modern military research
editIn the 1950s, the CIA investigatedLSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)as part of itsProject MKUltra.In the same period, theUS Armyundertook the secretEdgewood Arsenal human experimentswhich grew out of theU.S. chemical warfare programand involved studies of several hundred volunteer test subjects.Britainwas also investigating the possible use of LSD and the chemical BZ (3-quinuclidinyl benzilate) as nonlethal battlefield drug-weapons.[1]The United States eventually weaponized BZ for delivery in theM43 BZ cluster bombuntil stocks were destroyed in 1989. Both the US and Britain concluded that the desired effects of drug weapons were unpredictable under battlefield conditions and gave up experimentation.
Reports of drug weapons associated with theSoviet blochave been considered unreliable given the apparent absence of documentation in state archives.[5][2][6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abDando M, Furmanski M 2006. Mid-spectrum incapacitant programs. In: Wheelis M et al. (eds).Deadly cultures: biological weapons since 1945.Cambridge, US: Harvard University Press.
- ^abLee, Martin (May 1982)."Mad, Mad War".Mother Jones.p. 18.Retrieved21 May2013.
- ^Price, David A.(2003),Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Heart of a New Nation,New York:Knopf,pg 204.
- ^Ketchum, James S.(October 2012).Chemical Warfare Secrets Almost Forgotten.WestBow Press. pp. 14–.ISBN978-1-4772-7589-4.
- ^Douglass JD 1999Red cocaine – the drugging of America and the west.London and New York: Edward Harle Limited.
- ^Rózsa L 2009 A psychochemical weapon considered by the Warsaw Pact: a research note.Substance Use & Misuse,44,172-178.Archived2011-07-21 at theWayback Machineaccessed: 30-03-2009.
External links
edit- Video