The US intelligence agencies’ search for the “truth serum”, 1941-1973

From 1941 to 1973, US intelligence agencies, particularly the CIA, searched for a 'truth serum'—a drug that prevents lying—testing scopolamine, cannabis, mescaline, and LSD. No conclusive evidence was obtained that any substance could serve as a truth serum, while clear proof emerged that they are unpredictable and dangerous if misused. The failure led not only to abandoning investigation of these drugs for interrogations but also to stigmatizing them as dangerous poisons, even though they could be useful for therapy and research.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This paper is about the search for the "truth serum" (i.e., a drug that prevents an individual from lying), which the US intelligence agencies, especially the Central Intelligence Agency (the CIA) and its forerunners, carried out from 1941 (when the Office of the Coordinator of Information [COI] was founded) until 1973 (when the CIA director Richard M. Helms ordered all the MKULTRA-related documents to be destroyed).The study focused on four substances that were tested as a truth drug: scopolamine, cannabis, mescaline, and LSD.Neither with any of these drugs nor with any other substances was conclusive evidence obtained that they could be a truth serum, whereas clear proof was found that they are unpredictable and dangerous if they are misused.Its failure meant not only the abandonment of the investigation on these drugs as an aid to interrogations, but their being stigmatized as dangerous poisons which could be useful substances for therapy and research. La bsqueda del "suero de la verdad" de las agencias de inteligencia de EEUU, 1941-1973 R E S U M E NEste trabajo trata sobre la bsqueda del "suero de la verdad" (i.e., una droga que impida mentir a un individuo) que las agencias de inteligencia de los EEUU, en especial la Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) y sus predecesoras, llevaron a cabo desde 1941 (cuando se fund la Office of the Coordinator of Information [COI]) hasta 1973 (cuando el director de la CIA, Richard M. Helms, orden destruir todos los documentos relacionados con el MKULTRA).El estudio se centra en cuatro sustancias que fueron probadas como drogas de la verdad: la escopolamina, el cnnabis, la mescalina y el LSD.Ni con estas drogas, ni con cualquier otra sustancia se obtuvo evidencia concluyente de que pudiesen ser un suero de la verdad, mientras que s se encontraron pruebas claras de que eran impredecibles y peligrosas, si se empleaban mal.El fracaso signific, no solo el abandono de la investigacin de estas drogas como una ayuda en los interrogatorios, sino la estigmatizacin como venenos peligrosos de sustancias potencialmente