Talk:Louis Jolyon West

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More information about this article... The following comments have been left for this page: 2 references, no images. Smee 07:21, 26 June 2007 (UTC). (edit)

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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.

I see in the edit history that reference to this experiment was removed several times by User:Tilman. I can see no justification for removing it. I reinstated the version that had a good cite. --Tsunami Butler 12:25, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

How exactly is this a reliable secondary source? Smee 18:04, 24 January 2007 (UTC).

And I would have reverted it again. Your text is not NPOV, despite you having read the objections in the history and in the discussion. The experiment did take place, but it had a specific scientific purpose (research about musth), it was in a specific year (long ago!), and there were specific reasons for the failure - your text makes it sound if he just woke up with the thought "Hey, lets put LSD into an elephant to see what happens!". I suggest you study these sources:[1][2][3][4][5] and then write a new text, if you feel that the elephant must be in. It should also be mentioned that this failure was used to attack him decades later. --Tilman 19:42, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sources

Misou, suppressiveperson.org is just an alias for gerryarmstrong.org, which pro-Scientology editors use frequently for copies of documents. As for it being a "dynamic URL". (e.g. http://suppressiveperson.org/spdl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=360&Itemid=40) Well, yes. So is one like http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/06/23/BAGRI7AHPQ1.DTL In fact, pretty much all non-trivial sites use dynamic URL. Some use a cgi script, some use php, some hide it under the covers, but all use it. AndroidCat 05:27, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Now, am I supposed to be impressed by "pro-Scientology editors use frequently for copies of documents"? Gerry Armstrong is a private person, making money out of "being a victim" and his site is 100% rah-rah and his personal opinion on Scientology. Non-RS and off it goes. Got it on the dynamic URL. We are on the same page on that. Misou 06:11, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

It looks like the only thing we really know about hism is that he killed that elephant. 205.227.165.244 (talk) 00:28, 20 November 2007 (UTC)