MKUltra Subproject 21

Subproject 21 of Project MKULTRA paid an outside contractor for secret drug work. It was set up in late 1953 and ran for one year ending June or December. The total cost was not to exceed 5,720.00 dollars. The contractor's name is redacted in the surviving paperwork.

The stated aim was to provide CD/TSS with a facility where the pharmacological activity of various materials of interest to the division could be tested in a secure way. The chief investigator routinely ran tests on large numbers of materials in his laboratories. Any materials from CD/TSS could be included in that larger group without their true identity being known to anyone outside the Agency. All business was to be conducted through a cut-out, and the proposal hid how the funds were distributed.

A later memo dated June 23, 1955 says Subproject 21 was originally set up to provide a drug screening facility. Because of internal politics at the contractor, the program could not be carried out as planned, and no funds were spent. The funds were converted for use in an identical case where Subproject 10 had been used. A cover proposal in the file describes pharmacological testing of chemotherapeutic agents for cancer, with a budget of 5,000.00 dollars. The principals were cleared, and cut-outs and cover arrangements were to be used for dealings with unwitting personnel. Sidney Gottlieb, Chief of the Chemical Division, TSS, signed the memos. The work is tied to Subproject 48 and Subproject 10.