MK-Ultra, Mary Jane, and the U.S. Government’s Weirdest High
There’s government overreach, and then there’s MK-Ultra. In the 1950s and ’60s, the CIA went full sci-fi villain in real life, launching a secret program to study mind control, behavior manipulation, and psychological warfare. Code-named MK-Ultra, it included everything from hypnosis and sensory deprivation to—yes—cannabis.
And what did they want from weed?
Truth.
The CIA, desperate for a way to extract secrets from enemy spies (or maybe just anyone), tested various substances to see if any could act as a “truth serum.” Cannabis was among the earliest tested, thought to possibly lower inhibitions and make subjects more talkative.
High Hopes and Higher Paranoia
In internal memos now declassified, agents noted that THC “caused a marked loquacity” (translation: people got chatty). But they also recorded increased confusion, paranoia, and disassociation—side effects that aren’t ideal when you’re trying to get clean answers from someone under pressure.
“Cannabis sativa… produces a relaxation of inhibitions and a tendency to make indiscreet remarks, but also impairs the capacity for linear thought.”
— CIA Technical Report, MK-Ultra files
In other words: the CIA gave people weed, and they started giggling, rambling, and freaking out. Who would’ve thought?
The Cannabis Files: Just One Leaf in a Very Weird Tree
Cannabis was just a footnote in MK-Ultra. The real horror show involved LSD, electroshock therapy, and even dosing people without their consent—including hospital patients, prisoners, and unwitting civilians. By the 1970s, the program was exposed and publicly condemned, but not before creating decades of conspiracy theory fuel.
The cannabis experiments didn’t go far. Unlike LSD, which the CIA was obsessed with, THC never lived up to the agency’s spy-thriller fantasies. Turns out, weed’s better for couch lock than confession.
From Spies to Strains
Today, cannabis is more likely to show up at a music festival or dispensary than a government black site. But this strange chapter in history reminds us that cannabis has long been misunderstood, misused, and definitely underestimated.
We’re just glad the plant finally got a second act as a wellness tool instead of a Cold War science experiment.
Sources & Further Reading:
- U.S. National Archives: MK-Ultra Declassified Files
https://www.archives.gov/research/mk-ultra - Lee, Martin A. Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana – Medical, Recreational and Scientific. Scribner, 2012.
- NPR: The CIA’s Secret Quest for Mind Control: Torture, LSD and a ‘Poisoner in Chief’
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758822726