MKUltra Subproject 23

Subproject 23 covered the work of a single research facility. The plan was to replace several smaller projects there with one broader project. The CIA's Chemical Division (CD/TSS) directed the work.

The attached proposal describes the science. The work studied chemical agents that change the behavior and function of the central nervous system. Known drugs would be studied, and new agents would be made or existing ones changed. The agents would first be tested on animals to check their poison levels and their effects. Promising agents would then get a first round of clinical study in people. The first budget was $42,700 for a year. A later memo added $15,000 because the work had grown, raising the total to $57,700.

One memo in the record is troubling. To study the effects of certain chemicals on the mind, the project needed test subjects with normal mental function. With verbal approval from his chief, the project engineer let the contractor pay the hospital costs of certain people who had incurable cancer. This was done "for the privilege of studying the effects of these chemicals during their terminal illnesses." The total spent this way was $658.05. The memo states that "full value was received."