Norman Ohler: Nazis, drugs, and the CIA

From Saturday Morning, 8:35 am on 6 July 2024
Author Norman Ohler alongside the cover of his book Tripped.

Photo: Supplied / Allen and Unwin

The little-known story of how Nazi experiments into psychedelics covertly influenced the CIA and shaped the foundation of America's war on drugs has been told in the new book by best-selling author Norman Ohler.

Following on from the themes in his 2015 book Blitzed, which looked at methamphetamine use by the Third Reich, new book Tripped examines how the Nazis experimented with LSD at Dachau in efforts to find a "truth serum". 

When the US liberated Germany, they discovered the research which led to the CIA's notorious brainwashing and psychological torture program of the 1950s and 1960s. Only now is LSD starting to gain mainstream acceptance for uses such as treating anxiety.

 

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