Chemical Warfare

Review Written by Bernie Weisz, Historian December 16, 2010 Pembroke Pines, Florda, USA Contact: [email protected] Title of Review: THC, LSD and BZ Chemical Warfare Research:Selecting Volunteer Astronauts Ready to Go Into "Inner:" Rather Than Outer Space" James S. Ketchum's book "Chemical Warfare: Secrets Almost Forgotten" is the first and only account that exists revealing the U.S.Army's research into Chemical Warfare that occurred in one of the most tumultuous settings the United States ever has experienced. It is, however, a taboo topic and Ketchum states with chagrin that when he mentions to people that he is a psychiatrist that worked during the 1960's studying chemical methods for "subduing" normal people, most react politely by changing the subject. Perhaps this reflects the times in which these experiments occurred. Ketchum boldly proclaims the goal of his book is as follows: "Many books and articles have been published about the shady and nefarious activities of the CIA in relation to LSD, supposedly contemporaneously with our own officially approved medical research. I have read several of them and it is distressing how often our clinical research program has been confused with the CIA's covert use of LSD. Some authors do not refer to drugs we studied by their correct names, and attribute properties to them that are quite fanciful. A primary purpose of this book, therefore, is to provide truthful, comprehensive, accurate information about the Edgewood Arsenal medical research program, and what we actually learned from our studies." As a historical reviewer with zero psycho pharmacological foreknowledge, I intuitively understood Ketchum's comment when he wrote: "Medical experts enjoy using pedantic language that underlies their erudition, and I must admit I was not immune to this affliction." I did understand the cliche of the month of March coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb juxtaposed with Ketchum's stay at Edgewood being a reflection of "the times." Did you go through that period of history or did you hear about it from your parents or other elders? Some people mistakenly think the 60's were all about hippies ... well, the 60's were more than just hippies, although they did play an important role during the decade. There was also: Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, psychedelic music, Kennedy's assassination, the Vietnam War, and the first man to walk the moon! The decade started rather staid in 1960 with the first deb

שנה

2006

שפה

English

הוצאה

ChemBooks

מהדורות

1

עמודים

360

ISBN

9781424300808

מקור הנתונים: Wikidata