In 1962, an elephant was given the largest LSD dose ever recorded, he died 100 minutes later

A
elepha t
i
musthPhoto:
Ca va

I
the
a als
of
co t ove sial
scie tific
expe ime ts,
few
sto ies
a e
as
distu bi g
as
that
of
Tusko,
a
14-yea -old
I dia
elepha t
at
the
Oklahoma
City
Zoo.
O
August
3,
1962,
Tusko
became
the
subject
of
a
expe ime t
that
would
go
dow
i
histo y
as
o e
of
the
most
i famous
a imal
studies
eve
co ducted.
He
was
i jected
with
297
millig ams
of
LSD,
almost
3,000
times
the
o mal
huma
ec eatio al
dose,
a d
emai s
the
livi g
bei g
to
have
eceived
the
la gest
si gle
dose
of
the
halluci oge ic
d ug
eve
admi iste ed,
acco di g
to
the

Gui ess
Wo ld
Reco ds.The
expe ime tThe
expe ime t
was
ca ied
out
by
two
psychiat ists,
D
Louis
Jolyo
West
a d
D
Cheste
M.
Pie ce,
alo g
with
the
zoo’s
di ecto ,
Wa e
Thomas.
D
West
was,
put
simply,
a
deeply
co t ove sial
figu e.
He
was
a
docume ted
expe ime te
i
P oject
MKUlt a,
a
illegal
huma
expe ime tatio
p og amme
desig ed
by
the
CIA
to
ide tify
methods
of
b ai washi g,
psychologically
to tu i g,
a d
fo ci g
co fessio s
f om
people
du i g
i te ogatio s.These
methods
i cluded
se so y
dep ivatio ,
hyp osis,
isolatio ,
abuse,
the
cove t
admi ist atio
of
psychoactive
d ugs,
a d
va ious
othe
fo ms
of
to tu e.
O e
of
the
most
famous
expe ime ts
ove see
by
D
West
occu ed
i
1959,
whe
Pete
T ipp,
a
adio
DJ,
attempted
to
b eak
the
eco d
fo
the
lo gest
time
to
stay
awake.

T ipp
we t
without
sleep
fo
8
days
9
hou s,
causi g
his
me tal
state
to
tempo a ily
dete io ate
i to
what
docto s
labelled
‘ octu al
psychosis’,
as
pe
the
epo t.D
West
a d
D
Pie ce
we e
t yi g
to
i duce
Tusko
i to
a
state
k ow
as
‘musth’,
a
agg essive,
ho mo al
su ge
du i g
which
bull
elepha ts
sec ete
a
sticky
fluid
(tempo i )
betwee
the
eyes
a d
ea s.
Howeve ,
thei
expe ime t
did
ot
achieve
the
outcome
they
we e
hopi g
fo .The
t agic
outcomeFive
mi utes
afte
the
i jectio ,
Tusko
t umpeted
o ce,
fell
ove ,
a d
defecated.
He
the
suffe ed
a
c ippli g
seizu e;
his
eyes
olled
back
a d
closed,
his
legs
became
stiff,
he
bit
his
to gue,
a d
his
b eathi g
became
labou ed,
acco di g
to
the
epo t.

A
elepha t
i
musth

The
docto s
admi iste ed
a
la ge
dose
of
the
a tipsychotic
d ug
p omazi e
hyd ochlo ide,
i
additio
to
a
dose
of
the
ba bitu ate
pe toba bital
sodium;
howeve ,
these
d ugs
we e
ot
effective
i
evivi g
Tusko.
Sadly,
o e
hou
a d
fo ty
mi utes
afte
bei g
i jected
with
the
LSD,
Tusko
died.Some
esea che s
believed
that
the
docto s’
fatal
mistake
was
scali g
up
the
dose
i
p opo tio
to
Tusko’s
body
weight
i stead
of
his
b ai
weight,
a d
without
co side i g
his
metabolic
ate.
Othe s
att ibuted
Tusko’s
death
to
the
combi atio
of
d ugs
he
was
admi iste ed
du i g
his
seizu e,
as
pe
the
epo t.West
a d
Pie ce
co cluded
i
thei
esea ch
pape
titled
‘Lyse gic
Acid
Diethylamide:
Its
Effects
o
a
Male
Asiatic
Elepha t’,
“It
appea s
that
the
elepha t
is
highly
se sitive
to
the
effects
of
LSD,
a
fi di g
which
may
p ove
to
be
valuable
i
elepha t-co t ol
wo k
i
Af ica.”A
late
eplicatio I
a
effo t
to
p ove
that
the
LSD
alo e
had
ot
caused
Tusko’s
death,
a
psychopha macologist
f om
UCLA,
Ro ald
K.
Siegel,
epeated
the
expe ime t
o
two
elepha ts
a d
sha ed
the
study
esult
i
the
pape
‘LSD-i duced
effects
i
elepha ts:
Compa iso s
with
musth
behavio ‘.
He
admi iste ed
equivale t
doses
(i
te ms
of
millig ams
of
LSD
pe
kilog am
of
body
weight),
but
he
mixed
the
LSD
i
the
elepha ts’
d i ki g
wate
i stead
of
i jecti g
it.
Both
elepha ts
su vived
u ha med,
though
they
did
exhibit
ab o mal
behaviou
fo
seve al
hou s.The
esea che s’
legaciesAfte
the
expe ime t
o
Tusko,
D
West
co ti ued
his
wo k
fo
the
CIA.
Late
i
the
same
yea ,
he
was
appoi ted
as
the
psychiat ist
to
Jack
Ruby,
who
mu de ed
Lee
Ha vey
Oswald
two
days
afte
Oswald
was
accused
of
assassi ati g
P eside t
Joh
F.
Ke edy.
West
suggested
that
Ruby
be
i te ogated
u de
the
i flue ce
of
sodium
thiope tal
a d
hyp osis,
acco di g
to
the
Gu iess
Wo ld
Reco d
epo t.D
Pie ce
left
such
si iste
expe ime ts
behi d
him;
he
we t
o
to
become
the
fou di g
p eside t
of
the
Black
Psychiat ists
of
Ame ica
a d
spoke
o
acism
i
the
cou t y,
coi i g
the
te m
‘mic oagg essio ’.
He
also
became
a
se io
co sulta t
fo
the
child e ’s
TV
show
Sesame
St eet.A
da k
chapte
i
scie ceThe
sto y
of
Tusko
the
elepha t
emai s
a
da k
chapte
i
the
histo y
of
scie tific
expe ime tatio .
It
aises
p ofou d
ethical
questio s
about
the
t eatme t
of
a imals
i
esea ch
a d
the
bou da ies
of
scie tific
i qui y.
While
the
expe ime t
yielded
some
data
about
the
effects
of
LSD
o
la ge
mammals,
it
came
at
the
cost
of
a
life
a d
left
a
legacy
of
co t ove sy
that
e du es
to
this
day.Tusko’s
sto y
is
a
emi de
that
ot
all
scie tific
p og ess
is
achieved
ethically,
a d
that
the
pu suit
of
k owledge
must
always
be
bala ced
agai st
the
welfa e
of
the
subjects
i volved.
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