Sidney Gottlieb Church Committee Testimony (1975)

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Mr. Maxwell. ...in the Agency, or throughout the [DDP], how were people told that they could participate?

Dr. Gottlieb. It wasn't that kind of a program. They were approached -- and I forget how -- it wasn't a paper that said, anybody that wants LSD show up or present your case. It was much more a program of somehow -- I don't remember the mechanism -- of people who were going to serve in the Soviet Union or in places that would be exposed, they were approached, and told, we have this capability of exposing you to this drug, and the reason we think you might be interested in it is because you might someday be covertly attacked by it.

Mr. Lenzner. You used the word tests. Those weren't actually tests. They were actually considered a part of training. Maybe they were evaluating reactions, but it was mainly training.

Dr. Gottlieb. I imagine there would be some consultation with whoever was monitoring the project, sure. My problem is that I can't remember now either exactly where they were, who monitored them, what experiments were done, or what the design was. I can only say that the experiments involved both the pharmacology of LSD and similar materials, and probably some clinical testing on humans.

Mr. Maxwell. By clinical testing you mean what?

Dr. Gottlieb. I mean the administering them to human beings to see what their clinical effect was. And my remembrance of this period was that a lot of people began to be interested in the therapeutic possibility of LSD.

...Do you recall in a general sense in regard to human experimentation at that time whether there was a policy on the part of TSS in regard to the forms of consent obtained or the notification to those people who are involved in projects that have been contracted out, experiments that have been contracted out?

Dr. Gottlieb. To the best of my remembrance, I think we counted on the investigator and the system they were using at the institution or installation to handle that. We didn't have any. We felt that was their responsibility.

Mr. Maxwell. Would that normally be involved in a research design that was brought to your attention or to the attention of TSS?

Dr. Gottlieb. I don't think so. ...