Dr. James Ketchum tested a potent form of synthetic hemp on soldiers to develop a secret weapon in the ’60s.
In 1952, the Shell Development Corporation was contracted by the Army to examine “synthetic hemp derivatives” for their incapacitating properties. Additional studies into possible military uses of hemp began two years later at the University of Michigan medical school, where a group of scientists led by Dr. Edward F. Domino, professor of pharmacology, tested a drug called “EA 1476” — otherwise known as “Red Oil” — on dogs and monkeys at the behest of the U.S. Army. Made through a process of chemical extraction and distillation, Red Oil, akin to hash oil, packed a mightier punch than the natural plant.
Army scientists found that this concentrated hemp derivative produced effects unlike anything they had previously seen. “The dog gets a peculiar reaction. He crawls under the table, stays away from the dark, leaps out at imaginary objects and, as far as one can interpret, may be having hallucinations,” one report stated. “It would appear even to the untrained observer that this dog is not normal. He suddenly jumps out, even without any stimulus, and barks, and then crawls back under the table.”
Read the whole article here
