HC Deb 08 December 1994 vol 251 cc312-3W
Dr. David Clark

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the purpose of the LSD experiments called Moneybags carried out at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down; in which years the Moneybags experiments were conducted; how many service volunteers were tested under the Moneybags experiments; what were the lowest and highest doses administered to service volunteers during the Moneybags experiments; what were these volunteers required to do under these Moneybags experiments; how many animals were tested under the Moneybags experiments and what type of animals were used; what was the conclusion of the Moneybags experiments; and with which countries the results of these experiments were shared.

Mr. Soames

This is a matter for the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down to consider under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Graham Pearson to Dr. David Clark, dated 8 December 1994:

  1. 1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about work carried out with LSD at Porton Down known as Moneybags has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.
  2. 2. The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) is to carry out work to ensure that the UK Armed Forces are provided with effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As part of that programme, evaluation is carried out of chemicals that may be utilised by an aggressor as a chemical warfare agent.
  3. 3. Moneybags was one in a series of studies carried out in the 1960s to assess the effects of LSD on troops in a military setting where the behaviour of those volunteers who had been given LSD could be compared with those control volunteers who had not been given LSD. The aim of Moneybags was to determine how this psychotomimetic drug affected the military performance of men under simulated operational conditions. Some 20 Service Volunteers participated but not all were given LSD; 4 were screened out as being unsuitable to receive LSD. Of the others, some received no LSD whilst the lowest and highest doses were 75 and 200 vg respectively. This was given orally in water. No animals were involved.
  4. 4. Moneybags was designed to reproduce a military exercise of an internal security nature, the scenario being that an "enemy" force had sought refuge on the Porton Down range. The volunteers were tasked to clear the relevant area and to capture prisoners and stores from the "enemy".
  5. 5. Moneybags showed that the effects of LSD were manifest within 10 minutes and within 15 minutes the efficiency of the volunteer unit was impaired. After 70 minutes the levels of 313 incapacitation and the breakdown of communication between sections of the unit was such that all activity was terminated. Two days after their exposure to LSD the volunteer unit showed no ill effects and a repeat of the exercise, in which an inactive placebo was given, was perfectly executed.
  6. 6. It was concluded that men given a drug such as LSD would be incapable of effective military action. However, the drug had been administered orally and it as far from clear whether it could be disseminated effectively as an aerosol and thus whether it would present a significant battlefield hazard.
  7. 7. The results from Moneybags formed part of the technology database held by the Establishment in the area of evaluation of the potential hazard to Service personnel from possible chemical warfare agents. This information was drawn upon during the 1960s and 1970s in the agreements with our NATO allies to exchange information and so promote collaboration and cooperation in areas such as research and development in chemical and biological defence. The agreements with the United States at that time included:
    1. a. The Technical Cooperation Programme involving UK, US, Canada and Australia which had subsumed the earlier trilateral UK/US/Canada meetings.
    2. b. America, British, Canadian and Australian Armies (ABCA) agreement Quadripartite Working Group (QWG) on NBC defence.
    3. c. The NATO Panel VII on chemical and biological defence.