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MDA, MDMA, and other “mescaline‐like” substances in the US military's search for a truth drug (1940s to 1960s)

Torsten Passie, Udo Benzenhöfer

Drug Testing and Analysis August 29, 2017 DOI: 10.1002/dta.2292 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Historical analysis Peer reviewed
Topics LSD MDMA Mescaline Psilocybin
Keywords Hallucinogen Context archaeology Methylenedioxy Pharmacology
Citations 43
Key points Argues that the U.S. military secretly tested mescaline-like compounds as truth drugs from the 1940s to the 1960s, with at least one unwitting patient death kept from the public, and that operational use of these compounds remains probable but unconfirmed.

Abstract

Abstract This article describes the context in which 3,4‐methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and other mescaline‐like compounds were explored as hallucinogens for military and intelligence purposes from the 1940s to the 1960s. Germans first tested mescaline as a “truth drug” in a military context. In the 1940s, the United States military started testing hallucinogenic substances as truth drugs for interrogation and behavior manipulation. After tests carried out using mescaline and other drugs in 1950, some derivatives of mescaline were synthesized by the Army for the exploration of possible “speech‐inducing” effects. After insufficient animal testing, the substances were given to patients at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI). 3,4‐Methylenedioxy‐ N ‐ethylamphetamine (MDE), a compound almost identical to MDMA, was among the compounds delivered for testing at the NYSPI. During tests with other derivatives (3,4‐dimethoxyphenethylamine (DMA), 3,4‐methylenedioxyphenethylamine (MDPEA), MDA) in 1952–53, an unwitting patient died in these tests, which was kept secret from the public. Research was interrupted and toxicological animal testing procedures were initiated. The secret animal studies run in 1953/1954 revealed that some of the “mescaline derivatives” tested (e.g. MDA, MDE, DMA, 3,4,5‐trimethoxyamphetamine (TMA), MDMA) were considered for further testing in humans. In 1955, the military changed focus to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), but some interest in mescaline‐like compounds remained for their ability to change mood and habit without interfering with cognition and sensory perception. Based on the known documents, it remains unclear (but probable) whether any of the mescaline derivatives tested were being used operationally.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on mescaline, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Schizophrenia: A New Approach. II. Result of a Year's Research 1954 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Thought insertion as a self-disturbance: An integration of predictive coding and phenomenological approaches 2016 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Entactogens: How the Name for a Novel Class of Psychoactive Agents Originated 2022 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Steric and Electronic Relationships among Some Hallucinogenic Compounds 1970 Theoretical or philosophical paper
EFFECT OF DRUGS One individual 1952 Theoretical or philosophical paper n = 1

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LSD MDMA Mescaline Psilocybin