Writer and filmmaker John Potash joined me to discuss his latest documentary Drugs As Weapons Against Us. We talked about the main thesis behind the film and the original book. We discussed about the CIA’s involvement in the LSD movement in the 1960’s with groups like The Brotherhood of Eternal Love and the Mellon Hitchcock family. John talked about how this connects to the CIA’s MK Ultra program. We touched on how the CIA and their connected groups used LSD to derail and destroy leftist and revolutionary organizations throughout the 60’s and 70’s. John talked about how Students for a Democratic Society was torn apart by the deliberate introduction of LSD to the group. Later we talked about how various government informants pushed the use of cocaine on Black Panthers such as Huey P Newton. John and I also discuss how drugs were used against radical musicians including Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, and Tupac Shakur. We finish off the conversation by looking at the continued legacy of many of these operations. John talks about the work that the Heffter Institute and Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies are doing and their similarities to MK Ultra.
Show Notes:
MK Occupy Minnesota: Drugs & the DRE Program at Peavey Plaza