MKUltra Subproject 17

Subproject 17 funded a university study of how the body breaks down LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide). The surviving proposal explains that LSD doses are tiny, measured in micrograms, so the plan was to tag the molecule with radioactive or stable isotopes and trace it through the body. The work covered the period 22 October 1953 through 31 October 1955.

The proposal had two parts. The synthetic chemistry program would make LSD tagged with carbon 14, tritium (hydrogen 3), or heavy nitrogen (nitrogen 15). Its budget was $7,000, split as salary $4,500, stipend for a graduate student $1,500, and expenses $1,000. The metabolism program would measure how much LSD stayed in organs and tissues, study its excretion, and look at how it produces schizophrenia-like effects. Its budget was $18,500. The overall budget was $23,500 plus university overhead. The researchers' names and the university are redacted.

The money records survive too. An allotment number 4-2502-10 appears on the closing invoice. Cashier's checks number M139447 for $748.00 and M139442 for $13,700.00 were issued on 31 March 1954. Invoice No. 2, the final invoice, was submitted 19 March 1954 with two checks for $15,700.00 and $748.00. The two invoices together totaled $29,172.00 and closed the subproject. A 31 October 1954 memo had earlier granted a one year extension at no extra cost. Sidney Gottlieb signed the finance memos as Chief of the Chemical Division, TSS.