Talk:Louis Jolyon West

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I found no reliable source regarding CIA and MKULTRA involvement. In the MKULTRA report he is not mentioned, therefore I removed it as source. I found no neutral site connecting West with CIA or MKULTRA - they have a decided touch of anti-psychiatry or anti-US conspiracy theories and no one gives reliable sources. With only doubtful third-hand sources, an allegation does not belong into an encyclopedia. --Irmgard 21:44, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm too busy to recollect all my research on this guy. Someone else can find the references, and if you want to remove the claims until then, that is perfectly understandable. --AI 21:47, 8 September 2005 (UTC)

Can someone add data on the Tusko experiment? It's not exactly an important step, but still a well known flub in West's history. --24.9.8.61 22:33, 25 September 2005 (UTC)

The Tusko experiment took place in the 1960's at Lincoln Park Zoo in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was conducted through the University of Oklahoma Medical Center's Department of Psychiatry. Dr. West was Chief of the Department and was part of a team doing research on LSD. As this hallucinogen was known to be very powerful and dangerous, an extremely small dose -- presumed to be safe based on the subject's body weight -- was administered to an adult male elephant named Tusko. Tragically, Tusko died from the drug. No-one could have predicted that this tiny amount of LSD would be harmful to such a large animal. Dr. West was deeply saddened by this unexpected, unfortunate event. His involvement in the experiment haunted him on many levels. Politically it cost him, by a small number of votes, the presidency of the American Psychiatric Association.