Dr. Louis Jolyon "Jolly" West. Courtesy Sooner

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GIVE AN ELEPHANT ENOUGH LSD FOR 1,500 HUMANS? BY STEVE SHERMAN

n the spring of 1962, Oklahoma City received a new resident: an adolescent bull elephant named Tusko, brought over under the auspices of a prominent local psychiatrist. Acquired at the cost of $3,500 (roughly $27,000 today), he was shipped from the Phoenix area to Oklahoma City to be a companion for Judy, a popular female elephant at the then-named Lincoln Park Zoo. Within a Ifew months, Tusko was pestering Judy so incessantly that she slammed him into a wall and broke off his left tusk. This did not phase Tusko, who had taken to mounting his mate. Besides providing company for Judy, Tusko was acquired with the intent of being a research subject for Dr. Louis Jolyon "Jolly"West.

Dr. West was researching musth, a phenomenon he felt compelled to do so after receiving "anonymous wrote that psychiatrists who use LSD in treatments of in wrhich adolescent male elephants go through, what phone calls," which one can reasonably assume were patients should take the drug themselves. appears to be, temporary madness. A dark ooze secretes threats. Besides invoking the "Christian" and "democratic" Cohen's statements might explain why an ostensibly from around their ears. They stampede, stamp on principles in fever of integration, the hulk of his argument brilliant, socially aw^are, and forward-thinking man— humans, stomp on villages, charge at other elephants. rests on the threat of communism: "Now," writes Dr. West, OU's Dr. West—would do something as ostensibly Dr. West was a giant in 20th centuury psychiatry, "tales of radal discrimination in the United States are stupid as giving a captive Asiatic bull elephant a spending his early career as head of the Department heing used against us by the communists." megadose of psychedelics. of Psychiatry, Neurology and Biobehavioral Sciences at The 1960s Zeitgeist attracted West. His research According to the published paper recounting the Tusko the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine. He interests included drugs, hypnosis, and mind controL By ejqjeriment. Dr. West and his research team—Dr. Chester reached that position the age of 29, an impressive feat the late 1950s, Dr. West vinas one of three authors of a Pierce of the Veterans Administration Hospital and OU even in an era when tenure was easier to come by. Bom in paper entided "Brainwashing, Conditioning, and DDD School of Medidne, and Waxien Thomas of the Lincoln Brooklyn in the 1920s to parents from the Russian Pale, (Debility, Dependency, and Dread)," v»diich examined die Park Zoo—sought to "induce ecxperimentally a behavioral West grew up very poor in Madison, Wisconsin. He psychiatry behind North Korean brainwashing tactics used aberration that mig^t resemble the phenomenon of going was educated in the Midwest—^working his vray up at on American POWs. West was a joint author of a 1967 on musth." Once induced, the elephant could be sedated the universities of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota— paper on the psychobiology of racdal violence, published and the scientists could observe the dark ooze which before accepting the OU position in the 1954. the same year as the Detroit and Newark ratÄ riots. A would hypothetically secrete from Tusko's head. This West was a man about Oklahoma City; he spoke 1969 paper entided "Runawws, Hippies, and Marihviana could enlighten the researchers on die causes of musth, dius advancing a workable sedative to prevent elephants' at public functions for Phi Beta Kappa and hosted [sic]," published in the American Journal cf Psychiatry, was rage-induced destruction in Asia and Africa society dinners alongdde his wife, Kathryn, (also an a reflection fiom Dr West's and other psychiatrists' time OU professor). He also made public his controvrasial spent observing pot-smoking runaways in a Hai^it- The day before the experiment, Tusko Twas given a opinions on matters of tie àsyi In Marrfi of 1961 Aáilsiiy crash pad. placebo control dose of penidllin via a compressed air rifle. he wrote a lengthy op-ed in the iyaify Oklaboman In 1962, L5D had yet to enter into the popular After experiencing expected symptoms—^immediate esgjlaining his |Mirticipation in a pro-sit-in ralfy held at consciousness, fig;uiatively and literally. Tills -was still six startle response... 2 or 3 minutes of resdessness followed the then-segrtgatedhinch counter at die John A.Browu years before tiie publication of The Electric Kool-AidAdd ty normal bAavior throughout die day"—the researchers department store in downtown Oldahoma City— Test and four years before the drug's prohibition. The pnqared for the real deaL Ei^t otlodc die following drug was a curiosity of postwar researchers, morning—August 3,1962—die researches intravenously some of ii?iiom aigued for LSD's therapeutic injected Tusko with 297 milligrams of LSD. THE 1 9 60S ZEITGEIST ATTRACTED effects. in 1954, nme Magazine (of all The immediate starde reaction follo'wed, but matters publications) publicized certain stdentific quicMy turned messy ^len Tusko st(^>ped running and WEST. HIS RESEARCH INTERESTS studies t-hat- showred how LSD «mid help became unable to stand up. In the researchers'words: INCLUDED DRUGS, HYPNOSIS, As late as 1960, prominent researcher Dr. Sidney Cohen mate (Juify, a 15-year-oId female) AND MIND CONTROL argued for LSD's mental health benefits and approached him and appeared to attempt

CONTINUED ON PAGE 23 elephant has the mass of roughly 40 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 19 HIS OTHER POLITICAL WORK Q humans. Simply put, that's a lot of add. to support him. He began to sway, his Dr. West's pjçje^ published in the WHILE AT OU INCLUDED hindquarters buckled, and it became journal Science, concludes SPEARHEADING A NATIONAL increasin¿hf difficult for him to maintain thdr findings'm^ prove valuable in PSYCHIATRIST CAMPAIGN AGAINST himself upright. Five minutes after the dephant control -work in Africa." They injection he trumpeted, collapsed, fell also stated that as of 1960 there ^vas no THE DEATH PENALTY, ADVOCATING hea-vily onto his right side, defecated, and documented human death stemming from pQR LESS-STRINGENT MARIJUANA -went into status eplilepticus. an LSD overdose. We can't kno-w for certain if LSD or the other drugs killed ""AWS (THOUGH SUPPORTING LSD The researchas appeared to have panicked after Tusko. But ifwe accept the authors'daim, PROHIBITION), AND ADVISING THE Tusko's tongue turned cyanotic, signaling that his head then let historical record sho-w that before NATIONAL PEACE CORPS. -was getting insuffident oxygen. They injected Tusko any human died from an LSD megadose, -with 2,800 milligram«; of promazine hydrochloride, a bull elephant in Oklahoma sloughed West remained an advocate of the African -what was then a popular schizophrenia treatment. his mortal coil -while tripping his balls off. In their American d-vü rights struggle, defending partidpants Without any marked improvement, they tried defense. Dr. West claimed he and Dr. Pierce had in these protests as model dtizens -who display "no pentobarbital sodium, an anesthetic (and also common themselves taken add before, and had injected LSD delinquency or antisodal behavior," according to a lethal-injection drug). That didn't work. Tusko died from the Tusko batch into one of the zoo's "large 1964 Daily Oklahoman article. His other political one hour and 40 minutes after LSD dosage. cats" prior to the experiment. work -whue at OU included spearheading a national Autopsy determined that death was caused Judy, Tusko's mate, -was ultimately unfazed by the psychiatrist campaign against the death penalty, by strangulation due to laryngeal spasm, though tragedy. According to the Daily Oklahoman, she -was advocating for less-stringent marijuana la-ws (though it is admittedly unclear whether the LSD or the at first disturbed but soon "v(rent about her usual supp>orting LSD prohibition), and ad-vising the other drugs (or a combination thereof) were the pursuits, eating hay, and bathing herself from a pool." national Peace Corps. lethal agent(s). What is clear is that Tusko was Judy lived out a long life in what would soon In 1969 he left OU for the University of intravenously dosed -with enough LSD to induce be renamed the Oklahoma City Zoo, gi-ving the Califomia, Los Angeles in order to head that medical a trip in at least 1,500 human adults taking the occasional visitor a ride on her back. Dr. West lived school's department. He maintained throughout his drug orally. All this, despite the fact that a bull out the rest of the 1960s Ln Oklahoma City and life a Gump-like tendency to appear at the center THE RESEARCHERS APPEARED continued to make news. FoUo-wing Jack of milestone events of American 20th century: He Ruby's assassination of Kennedy assassin pro-vided testimony at the Patty Hearst trial and TO HAVE PANICKED AFTER Lee Harvey Oswald, Dr. West provided the also served on the board investigating the 1992 Los expert psychiatric evaluation of Mr. Ruby. Angeles Race Riot. TUSKO'S TONGUE TURNED Conduding that Ruby -was mentally ill Unlike Tusko, Dr. West made his own consdous CYANOTIC, SIGNALING THAT (among other things. Ruby feared the death choice to die. He was suffering from cancer and his of 25 million Jews as the result of his actions). v*rife had Alzheimer's. In 1999, at his request, his son HIS HEAD WAS GETTING West advocated psychiatric treatment rather John gave him the fatal cocktail of pills, and he died INSUFFICIENT OXYGEN. than the death penalty. presumably in the quiet at century's end. "!•

A LIST OF 163 SUBSTANCES USED BY UNiUSUAL GORDON TDDD SKINNER, ACCDROING TO AN EXHIBIT HE PROUIDEO IN TESTIMDNY A Ml A L Ö G U E S ! FDR THE STATE OF KANSAS

1. N, N- ETHANOL EXTRACTIONS 78. 122. 5-METHYLTRYPTAMINE 2. 5-MEO-ALPHA-MT 43. THE FRACTIONS OF THE ABOVE 79. ESCALINE 123. RESERPINE (INDIAN 3. N, N-DIMETHYLTRÏPTAMINE EXTRACTIONS 80. PEYOTE AND ITS EXTRACTIONS SNAKEROOT), AND OTHER EXTRACTS 4. 2-ALPHA, N-DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE 44. ACACIA SP. (AS MANY AS COULD AND TEAS 124. 5. ALPHA, N-DIMETHYLTRYPTAMINE BE FOUND) 81. SAN PEDRO AND ITS EXTRACTIONS 125. BENZOCAINE 6. N, N-DIPROP-TLTTR-YPTAMINE 45. DESMANTHUS ILLINOENSIS AND TEAS 126. ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID 7. ALPJHA-ETHYLTRYPTAMINE 46. MIMOSA HOSTILIS 82. CAFFEINE 127. FtJROSMIDE 8. 3, 4-DIHYDRO-7METHOXY-1- 47. COLD WATER, WRM WATER, AND 83. THEOBROMINE (FROM CHOCOLATE) 128. ALL FORMS OF ANTIBIOTICS METHYL-b-CARBOLINE ETHANOL EXTRACTIONS OF 44-46 84. NYRISTICINE 129. NYSTATIN 9. 7-METHOXY-b-CARBOLINE 48. THE FRACTIONS OF THE ABOVE 85. 130. FLUCONAZOLE 10. D-LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE EXTRACTIONS 86. 131. IBUPROFIN 11. MELATONIN 49. 5-MEO-DMT AND DMT DISSOL-VED 87. 132. TATRATE 12. 5-METHOXY-N, INTO BUTTER 88. 133. SILDENAFIL CITRATE N-DIETHYLTRYPTAMIHE 50. VIROLA CALOPHYLLA 89. SALVINORIN (DITERPENE) 134. FLUNITRAZEPAM 13. 5-METHOXY-N, 51. PHALARIS AQUATICA 90. 135. BETA-BUNGAROTOXIN N-DISOPROPYLTRYPTAMINE 52. PHALARIS ARUNDINACEA 91. , ALL KNOWN 136. SODIUM PENTATHOL (USED TO 14. 5-METHOXY-N, 53. PHRAGMITES AUSTRALIS VARIATIONS REMOVE WISDOM TEETH) N-DIMETHYIiTRYPTAMINE 54. ARUNDO DONAX 92. 137. ALL AMINO ACIDS, THEIR 15. NOR-5-MEO-DMT 55. PSYCHOTRIA -VIRIDIS 93. AMANITA PANTHERINA DERIVATIVES AND METABOLITES, 16. 1,^ 2, 3, 4-TETRAHYDRO-b- 56. PSILOCYBE CtJBENSIS AD OTHER 94. ALL EXTRACTIONS, IV AND ORAL CARBOLINE VARIETIES PREPARATIONS, AND TREA3MENTS 138. MAGNESIUM SULFATE IV 17. ALPHA-METHYLTRYPTTAMINE 57. PANAEOLUS SUBBALTEAUS KNOWN AT THE TIME OF #92-93 139. VITAMINS AND MINERALS IV, 18. N-ETHYLTRYPTAMINE 58. PSILOCYBE AZYRESCENS AND 95. VALIUM IM, AND ORAL 19. N-METHYLTRYPTAMINE OTHER VARIETIES 96. MEPERDINE 140. EDETATE SODIUM IV 20. 6-PROPYL-NOR-LSD 59. COLD WATER, WARM WATER, AND 97. SUBLIMES 141. ALPHA LIPOIC ACID, IV, IM, 21. TRYPTAMXNE ETHANOL EXTRACTIONS OF 50-58 98. DOLOPHINE AND ORAL 22. TETRAHYDROHARMINE 60. THE FRACTIONS OF THE ABOVE 99. 142. DEXTROSE, IV AND ORAL 23. iiLPHA, N, EXTRACTIONS 100. HYDROMORPHONE 143. SOD IV O-TRIMETHYLSEROTONIN 61. 50-60 WERE TRIED WITH MONO 101. NUMORPHAN 144. ALL KNOWN BETA-CARBOLINES 24. PSrLOCIN AMINE OXIDE ENZIME INHIBITORS 102. CODEINE 145. ALCOHOL 25. (IRREVERSABLE AND REVERSABLE, 103. HYDROCODONE 146. CANNABIS (ONLY USED SIX 26. CEY-19 SHORT AND LONG LASTING, MAO 104. OPIUM, ALL TEA EXTRACTIONS TIMES IN LIFE) 27. ALD-52 (A) AND MAO (A&B)) THEREOF 147. I^DBFRENYI. 28. BOL-148 62. PARNATE 105. ALPRAZOIiâM 148. BETEL NUT 29. ERGONOVINB 63. MOCLOBEMIDE 106. TEMAZKPAM 149. VANADIUM I.V. 30. METHERGXNE 64. NARDIL 107. SECONAL 150. KAilAIN 31. ANY AND ALL ISC»4ERS OF LSD 65. L-TRYPTOPHAN 108. CARISPRODOL 151. METHYSTICIN 32. COLD WATER W24SH OF ERGOT 66. D-TRYPTOPHAN 109. OXYCODONE 152. Y2VNGONIN 33. WARM WATER WASH OF ERGOT 67. DL-TRYPTOPHAN 110. SZEDS, TEAS 153. KAVALACTONES 34. WINE (ETHANOL) WAS OF ERGOT 68. 5-HYDROXYL-L-TRYPTOPHAH AND EXTRACTS THZREOF 154. 1,3,7 —T 35. ANY COMBINATION OF 32-34 69. 2-CB .111. BABT HAHAIIN WOODR0SE SSESiS, 155. VETALAR 35. 5-FLUORO-ALPHA- 70. -I TEAS AND EXTRACTS THEREOF 156. YOHIMBE METHYLYTRYPTAMINE 71. DOB 112. GHB AND ALL ISOMERS THEREOF 157. HYDERGINE 37. 6- FLÜORO-ALPHA- 72. 2, 5-DIMErHOXY- 113. TMFPP 158. -.ASCP METHYLYTRYPTAMINE 4METHYLAMPHETAMINE 114. DXM 159. "ZHÏZROEPIANDROSTRONE 38. BANISTERIOPSIS CAAPI 73. 3-METHOXY-4, 5-ME5raYI^HKDIOXY 115. METHOXYSAFROLE 160. 2-DIHETHYLAMINOETHANDL 39. PEGANUM HARMALA 116. PROCAJNE 161. VOLCAGNA 40. 6-METHOXY- 74. MD 117. LIDOCAINE 162. LA-111; LSA| MORNING GLORY 41. GLAND SECRETIONS OF BOFO 75. MDMA AND VARIOUS ISCSfEHS AND 118. CARBOCAINE AND EXTRACTS ALVARIUS (SONORAN DESERT TOAD) ANALOGS 119. NIPHEDIPIHE 163. 4-PHOSPHORYLOXY-N- 42. MIMOSACEAE ANADENATHERA, 76. TKA 120. NORVASC ; METHYLTRYPTAMINE COLD WATER, WARM WATER, AND 77. TMA-2 121. 7-METHYLTRYPTAMINE