Ajmal Kasab
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab . Kasab, alongside fellow Lashkar-e-Taiba recruit Ismail Khan, killed 72 people during the attacks, most of them at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Kasab was the only attacker captured alive by police. Kasab was born in Pakistan to a family belonging to the Qassab community, he engaging in petty crime and armed robbery with a friend. In late 2007, he and his friend encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets, were persuaded to join. On 3 May 2010, Kasab was found guilty of 80 offences, including murder, waging war against India, possessing explosives, other charges. On 6 May 2010, the same trial court sentenced him to death on four counts and to a life sentence on five counts. Kasab's death sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court on 21 February 2011; the verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court of India on 29 August 2012. Kasab was hanged on 21 November 2012 at 7:30 am. and buried at Yerwada Jail in Pune.
According to Indian Investigation Kasab was born in Faridkot village in the Okara District of Punjab, Pakistan, to Amir Shahban Kasab and Noor Illahi. His father ran a snack cart while his elder brother, worked as a labourer in Lahore, his elder sister, Rukaiyya Husain, was lived in the village. A younger sister and brother, lived in Faridkot with their parents; the family belongs to the Qassab community. Kasab joined his brother in Lahore and returned to Faridkot, he left home after a fight with his father in 2005. He had asked for new clothes on Eid, he engaged in petty crime with his friend Muzaffar Lal Khan. On 21 December 2007, Eid al-Adha, they were in Rawalpindi trying to buy weapons when they encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets, they decided to sign up for training with the Lashkar-e-Taiba, ending up at their base camp, Markaz Taiba. An interrogator and deputy commissioner of the Mumbai Police stated that Kasab spoke rough Hindi and no English.
He said his father in effect sold him to Lashkar-e-Taiba so that he could use the money they gave him to support the family. His father denied it. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba offered to pay his family Rs.150,000 for his participation in the attacks. Another report said the 23-year-old was recruited from his home, in part, based on a pledge by recruiters to pay Rs.100,000 to his family if he became a martyr. Other sources put the reward at US$4,000. Villagers of Okara claimed on camera that he was at their village six months before the Mumbai attack, they said that he asked his mother to bless him as he was going for jihad, claimed that he demonstrated his wrestling skills to a few village boys that day. Ajmal Kasab was among a group of 24 men who received training in marine warfare at a remote camp in mountainous Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir in Pakistan. Part of the training was reported to have taken place on the Mangla Dam reservoir. Kasab was seen on CCTV during his attacks at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus along with another recruit, Ismail Khan.
Kasab told the police that they wanted to replicate the Islamabad Marriott hotel attack, reduce the Taj Hotel to rubble, replicating the 9/11 attacks in India. Kasab and his accomplice Khan aged 25, attacked the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, they moved on to attack a police vehicle at Cama Hospital, in which senior Mumbai police officers were travelling. After killing them in a gun battle and taking two constables hostage in the Qualis and Khan drove towards the Metro cinema. Kasab joked about the bulletproof vests worn by the police and killed one constable when his mobile phone rang; the two fired some shots into a crowd gathered at the Metro Cinema. They drove to Vidhan Bhavan where they fired more shots, their vehicle had a tire puncture, so they stole a silver Škoda Laura and drove towards Girgaum Chowpatty beach. The D B Marg police had received a message from police control at about 10 pm, that two armed men had gunned down commuters at CST. 15 policemen from D B Marg were sent to Chowpatty to set up a double barricade on Marine Drive.
The Škoda halted 40 to 50 feet from the barricade. It attempted a U-turn. A shootout ensued and Khan was killed. Kasab lay motionless playing dead. Assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, armed only with a lathi, charged the vehicle, being shot five times. Omble held onto Kasab's weapon. Omble died from the bullet wounds. A mob gathered and attacked the two terrorists, captured on video. Kasab pretended to be dead and was being transported to the Nair Hospital when a police officer discovered Kasab was breathing. Seeing the mutilated body of another slain terrorist Kasab begged doctors to put him on saline, saying "I do not want to die"; the doctors who treated Kasab said. Kasab told police he was trained to "kill to the last breath", after interrogation in the hospital by the police, he said: "Now, I do not want to live", requesting the interrogators to kill him for the safety of his family in Pakistan, who could be killed or tortured for his surr
2008 Noida double murder case
The Noida double murder case refers to the unsolved murders of 13-year-old girl Aarushi Talwar and 45-year-old Hemraj Banjade, a male live-in domestic worker employed by her family. The two were killed on the night of 15 -- 16 May 2008 at Aarushi's home in India; the case aroused public interest as a whodunit story, received heavy media coverage. The sensational media coverage, which included salacious allegations against Aarushi and the suspects, was criticized by many as a trial by media; when Aarushi's body was discovered on 16 May, the missing servant Hemraj was considered as the main suspect. However, the next day, his decomposed body was discovered on the terrace; the police were criticized for failing to secure the crime scene immediately. After ruling out the family's ex-servants, the police considered Aarushi's parents—Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Nupur Talwar—as the prime suspects; the police suspected that Rajesh had murdered the two after finding them in an "objectionable" position, or because Rajesh's alleged extra-marital affair had led to his blackmail by Hemraj and a confrontation with Aarushi.
The accusations enraged the Talwars' family and friends, who accused the police of framing the Talwars in order to cover up the botched-up investigation. The case was transferred to the CBI, which exonerated the parents and suspected the Talwars' assistant Krishna Thadarai and two domestic servants—Rajkumar and Vijay Mandal. Based on the'narco' interrogation conducted on the three men, the CBI assumed that they had killed Aarushi after an attempted sexual assault, Hemraj for being a witness; the CBI was accused of using dubious methods to extract a confession, all the three men were released after it could not find any solid evidence against them. In 2009, the CBI handed over the investigation to a new team, which recommended closing the case due to critical gaps in the evidence. Based on circumstantial evidence, it named Rajesh Talwar as the sole suspect, but refused to charge him due to lack of any hard evidence; the parents opposed the closure report. Subsequently, a special CBI court rejected the CBI's claim that there was not enough evidence, ordered proceedings against the Talwars.
In November 2013, the parents were convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, but many critics argued that the judgment was based on weak evidence. The Talwars challenged the decision in the Allahabad High Court. On 12 October 2017, the court acquitted them, calling the evidence against them unsatisfactory and criticising the police, CBI and the media for not having investigated the murder properly; the case remains unsolved. Aarushi Talwar was a 13-year-old student at the Delhi Public School, she was the daughter of Dr. Rajesh Talwar and Dr. Nupur Talwar; the family lived in an apartment in Sector 25 of Uttar Pradesh, India. Rajesh and Nupur practiced together at their clinic in Sector 27 of Noida, they saw patients at the Fortis Hospital, where Rajesh headed the dental department. In addition, Rajesh taught at the ITS dental college in Greater Noida. Anita and Praful Durrani, another dentist couple and close family friends of the Talwars, lived in the same city; the couple shared the Noida clinic with the Talwars: Rajesh and Anita worked at the clinic in the morning, while Praful and Nupur worked there in the evening.
The Durranis and the Talwars shared a clinic in Hauz Khas area of Delhi. Yam Prasad Banjade, better known as Hemraj, was cook, he belonged to a Brahmin family of Dharapani village in the Arghakhanchi district of Nepal. The events preceding the murders on the night of 15–16 May 2008 were as follows: Before 9 pm On 15 May 2008, Nupur Talwar worked at her Hauz Khas clinic during 9 am-1 pm, she returned to their Jalvayu Vihar apartment. Nupur's sister-in-law Vandana Talwar joined them for lunch. Nupur and Vandana left, while Aarushi stayed at home. Nupur worked at the Fortis Hospital from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm, she returned to the apartment around 7.30 pm. Rajesh Talwar taught at the ITS Dental College from 8:45 am to 3:30 pm and attended patients at the Hauz Khas clinic until 8:30 pm.9 pm - 10 pmRajesh and his driver Umesh Sharma returned to Jalvayu Vihar around 9:30 pm. Sharma dropped Rajesh in front of the apartment building and drove away to park the car at the house of Nupur's parents, a walking distance away.
Sharma returned to the Talwar residence around 9:40 pm to hand over the car keys and Rajesh's bag to Hemraj, who had cooked the dinner for the family. Sharma saw Nupur and Aarushi near the dining table, Rajesh coming out of his bedroom, he was the last known outsider to see Aarushi and Hemraj alive.10 pm - 11 pmAccording to the Talwars, after the dinner, they went to Aarushi's room, gave her a Sony DSC-W130 digital camera. The camera had been received by Hemraj. Rajesh planned to give it to Aarushi on her birthday, but Nupur persuaded Rajesh to give it to Aarushi that day as an early birthday surprise. Aarushi clicked her parents, the last one at 10:10 pm. Subsequently, Aarushi's parents retired to their room, while Aarushi remained in her room.11 pm - 12 amAccording to the parents, around 11 pm, Rajesh asked Nupur to switch on the internet router, in Aarushi's room. When Nupur came to Aarushi's room, the teenager was reading Chetan Bhagat's The 3 Mistakes of My Life. Nupur returned to her own room.
Around this time, Rajesh answered a call from the U
Benzodiazepine
Benzodiazepines, sometimes called "benzos", are a class of psychoactive drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. The first such drug, was discovered accidentally by Leo Sternbach in 1955, made available in 1960 by Hoffmann–La Roche, since 1963, has marketed the benzodiazepine diazepam. In 1977 benzodiazepines were globally the most prescribed medications, they are in the family of drugs known as minor tranquilizers. Benzodiazepines enhance the effect of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid at the GABAA receptor, resulting in sedative, anxiolytic and muscle relaxant properties. High doses of many shorter-acting benzodiazepines may cause anterograde amnesia and dissociation; these properties make benzodiazepines useful in treating anxiety, agitation, muscle spasms, alcohol withdrawal and as a premedication for medical or dental procedures. Benzodiazepines are categorized as either intermediary, or long-acting. Short- and intermediate-acting benzodiazepines are preferred for the treatment of insomnia.
Benzodiazepines are viewed as safe and effective for short-term use, although cognitive impairment and paradoxical effects such as aggression or behavioral disinhibition occur. A minority of people can have paradoxical reactions such as worsened panic. Benzodiazepines are associated with increased risk of suicide. Long-term use is controversial because of concerns about decreasing effectiveness, physical dependence, an increased risk of dementia. Stopping benzodiazepines leads to improved physical and mental health; the elderly are at an increased risk of both short- and long-term adverse effects, as a result, all benzodiazepines are listed in the Beers List of inappropriate medications for older adults. There is controversy concerning the safety of benzodiazepines in pregnancy. While they are not major teratogens, uncertainty remains as to whether they cause cleft palate in a small number of babies and whether neurobehavioural effects occur as a result of prenatal exposure. Benzodiazepines can cause dangerous deep unconsciousness.
However, they are less toxic than their predecessors, the barbiturates, death results when a benzodiazepine is the only drug taken. When combined with other central nervous system depressants such as alcoholic drinks and opioids, the potential for toxicity and fatal overdose increases. Benzodiazepines are misused and taken in combination with other drugs of abuse. Benzodiazepines possess psycholeptic, hypnotic, anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant, amnesic actions, which are useful in a variety of indications such as alcohol dependence, anxiety disorders, panic and insomnia. Most are administered orally. In general, benzodiazepines are well-tolerated and are safe and effective drugs in the short term for a wide range of conditions. Tolerance can develop to their effects and there is a risk of dependence, upon discontinuation a withdrawal syndrome may occur; these factors, combined with other possible secondary effects after prolonged use such as psychomotor, cognitive, or memory impairments, limit their long-term applicability.
The effects of long-term use or misuse include the tendency to cause or worsen cognitive deficits and anxiety. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia recommends discontinuing the usage of benzodiazepines in those on opioids and those who have used them long term. Benzodiazepines can have serious adverse health outcomes, these findings support clinical and regulatory efforts to reduce usage in combination with non-benzodiazepine receptor agonists; because of their effectiveness and rapid onset of anxiolytic action, benzodiazepines are used for the treatment of anxiety associated with panic disorder. However, there is disagreement among expert bodies regarding the long-term use of benzodiazepines for panic disorder; the views range from those that hold that benzodiazepines are not effective long-term and that they should be reserved for treatment-resistant cases to those that hold that they are as effective in the long term as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. The American Psychiatric Association guidelines note that, in general, benzodiazepines are well tolerated, their use for the initial treatment for panic disorder is supported by numerous controlled trials.
APA states that there is insufficient evidence to recommend any of the established panic disorder treatments over another. The choice of treatment between benzodiazepines, SSRIs, serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, psychotherapy should be based on the patient's history and other individual characteristics. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are to be the best choice of pharmacotherapy for many patients with panic disorder, but benzodiazepines are often used, some studies suggest that these medications are still used with greater frequency than the SSRIs. One advantage of benzodiazepines is that they alleviate the anxiety symptoms much faster than antidepressants, therefore may be preferred in patients for whom rapid symptom control is critical. However, this advantage is offset by the possibility of developing benzodiazepine dependence. APA does not recommend benzodiazepines for persons with depressive
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group is bound to a carbon. The term alcohol referred to the primary alcohol ethanol, used as a drug and is the main alcohol present in alcoholic beverages. An important class of alcohols, of which methanol and ethanol are the simplest members, includes all compounds for which the general formula is CnH2n+1OH, it is these simple monoalcohols. The suffix -ol appears in the IUPAC chemical name of all substances where the hydroxyl group is the functional group with the highest priority; when a higher priority group is present in the compound, the prefix hydroxy- is used in its IUPAC name. The suffix -ol in non-IUPAC names typically indicates that the substance is an alcohol. However, many substances that contain hydroxyl functional groups have names which include neither the suffix -ol, nor the prefix hydroxy-. Alcohol distillation originated in India. During 2000 BCE, people of India used. Alcohol distillation was known to Islamic chemists as early as the eighth century.
The Arab chemist, al-Kindi, unambiguously described the distillation of wine in a treatise titled as "The Book of the chemistry of Perfume and Distillations". The Persian physician, alchemist and philosopher Rhazes is credited with the discovery of ethanol; the word "alcohol" is from a powder used as an eyeliner. Al- is the Arabic definite article, equivalent to the in English. Alcohol was used for the fine powder produced by the sublimation of the natural mineral stibnite to form antimony trisulfide Sb2S3, it was considered to be the essence or "spirit" of this mineral. It was used as an antiseptic and cosmetic; the meaning of alcohol was extended to distilled substances in general, narrowed to ethanol, when "spirits" was a synonym for hard liquor. Bartholomew Traheron, in his 1543 translation of John of Vigo, introduces the word as a term used by "barbarous" authors for "fine powder." Vigo wrote: "the barbarous auctours use alcohol, or alcofoll, for moost fine poudre."The 1657 Lexicon Chymicum, by William Johnson glosses the word as "antimonium sive stibium."
By extension, the word came to refer to any fluid obtained by distillation, including "alcohol of wine," the distilled essence of wine. Libavius in Alchymia refers to "vini alcohol vel vinum alcalisatum". Johnson glosses alcohol vini as "quando omnis superfluitas vini a vino separatur, ita ut accensum ardeat donec totum consumatur, nihilque fæcum aut phlegmatis in fundo remaneat." The word's meaning became restricted to "spirit of wine" in the 18th century and was extended to the class of substances so-called as "alcohols" in modern chemistry after 1850. The term ethanol was invented 1892, combining the word ethane with the "-ol" ending of "alcohol". IUPAC nomenclature is used in scientific publications and where precise identification of the substance is important in cases where the relative complexity of the molecule does not make such a systematic name unwieldy. In naming simple alcohols, the name of the alkane chain loses the terminal e and adds the suffix -ol, e.g. as in "ethanol" from the alkane chain name "ethane".
When necessary, the position of the hydroxyl group is indicated by a number between the alkane name and the -ol: propan-1-ol for CH3CH2CH2OH, propan-2-ol for CH3CHCH3. If a higher priority group is present the prefix hydroxy-is used, e.g. as in 1-hydroxy-2-propanone. In cases where the OH functional group is bonded to an sp2 carbon on an aromatic ring the molecule is known as a phenol, is named using the IUPAC rules for naming phenols. In other less formal contexts, an alcohol is called with the name of the corresponding alkyl group followed by the word "alcohol", e.g. methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol. Propyl alcohol may be n-propyl alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, depending on whether the hydroxyl group is bonded to the end or middle carbon on the straight propane chain; as described under systematic naming, if another group on the molecule takes priority, the alcohol moiety is indicated using the "hydroxy-" prefix. Alcohols are classified into primary and tertiary, based upon the number of carbon atoms connected to the carbon atom that bears the hydroxyl functional group.
The primary alcohols have general formulas RCH2OH. The simplest primary alcohol is methanol, for which R=H, the next is ethanol, for which R=CH3, the methyl group. Secondary alcohols are those of the form RR'CHOH, the simplest of, 2-propanol. For the tertiary alcohols the general form is RR'R"COH; the simplest example is tert-butanol, for which each of R, R', R" is CH3. In these shorthands, R, R', R" represent substituents, alkyl or other attached organic groups. In archaic nomenclature, alcohols can be named as derivatives of methanol using "-carbinol" as the ending. For instance, 3COH can be named trimethylcarbinol. Alcohols have a long history of myriad uses. For simple mono-alcohols, the focus on this article, the following are most important industrial alcohols: methanol for the production of formaldehyde and as a fuel additive ethanol for alcoholic beverages, fuel additive, solvent 1-propanol, 1-butanol, isobutyl alcohol for use as a solvent a
Hypnotic
Hypnotic or soporific drugs known as sleeping pills, are a class of psychoactive drugs whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia, or for surgical anesthesia. This group is related to sedatives. Whereas the term sedative describes drugs that serve to calm or relieve anxiety, the term hypnotic describes drugs whose main purpose is to initiate, sustain, or lengthen sleep; because these two functions overlap, because drugs in this class produce dose-dependent effects they are referred to collectively as sedative-hypnotic drugs. Hypnotic drugs are prescribed for insomnia and other sleep disorders, with over 95% of insomnia patients being prescribed hypnotics in some countries. Many hypnotic drugs are habit-forming and, due to a large number of factors known to disturb the human sleep pattern, a physician may instead recommend changes in the environment before and during sleep, better sleep hygiene, the avoidance of caffeine or other stimulating substances, or behavioral interventions such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia before prescribing medication for sleep.
When prescribed, hypnotic medication should be used for the shortest period of time necessary. Among individuals with sleep disorders, 13.7% are taking or prescribed nonbenzodiazepines, while 10.8% are taking benzodiazepines, as of 2010. Early classes of drugs, such as barbiturates, have fallen out of use in most practices but are still prescribed for some patients. In children, prescribing hypnotics is not yet acceptable unless used to treat night terrors or somnambulism. Elderly people are more sensitive to potential side effects of daytime fatigue and cognitive impairments, a meta-analysis found that the risks outweigh any marginal benefits of hypnotics in the elderly. A review of the literature regarding benzodiazepine hypnotics and Z-drugs concluded that these drugs can have adverse effects, such as dependence and accidents, that optimal treatment uses the lowest effective dose for the shortest therapeutic time period, with gradual discontinuation in order to improve health without worsening of sleep.
Falling outside the above-mentioned categories, the neuro-hormone melatonin has a hypnotic function. Hypnotica was a class of somniferous drugs and substances tested in medicine of the 1890s and including: Urethan, Methylal, paraldehyde, Hypnon and Ohloralamid or Chloralimid. Research about using medications to treat insomnia evolved throughout the last half of the 20th century. Treatment for insomnia in psychiatry dates back to 1869 when chloral hydrate was first used as a soporific. Barbiturates emerged as the first class of drugs that emerged in the early 1900s, after which chemical substitution allowed derivative compounds. Although the best drug family at the time they were dangerous in overdose and tended to cause physical and psychological dependence. During the 1970s, quinazolinones and benzodiazepines were introduced as safer alternatives to replace barbiturates. Benzodiazepines are not without their drawbacks. Questions have been raised as to. Nonbenzodiazepines are the most recent development.
Although it's clear that they are less toxic than their predecessors, comparative efficacy over benzodiazepines have not been established. Without longitudinal studies, it is hard to determine. Other sleep remedies that may be considered "sedative-hypnotics" exist. Examples of these include mirtazapine, clonidine and the over-the-counter sleep aid diphenhydramine. Off-label sleep remedies are useful when first-line treatment is unsuccessful or deemed unsafe. Barbiturates are drugs that act as central nervous system depressants, can therefore produce a wide spectrum of effects, from mild sedation to total anesthesia, they are effective as anxiolytics and anticonvulsalgesic effects. They have dependence liability, both psychological. Barbiturates have now been replaced by benzodiazepines in routine medical practice – for example, in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia – because benzodiazepines are less dangerous in overdose. However, barbiturates are still used in general anesthesia, for epilepsy, assisted suicide.
Barbiturates are derivatives of barbituric acid. The principal mechanism of action of barbiturates is believed to be positive allosteric modulation of GABAA receptors. Examples include amobarbital, phenobarbital and sodium thiopental. Quinazolinones are a class of drugs which function as hypnotic/sedatives that contain a 4-quinazolinone core, their use has been proposed in the treatment of cancer. Examples of quinazolinones include cloroqualone, etaqualone, mebroqualone and methaqualone. Benzodiaz
Project MKUltra
Project MKUltra called the CIA mind control program, is the code name given to a program of experiments on human subjects that were designed and undertaken by the United States Central Intelligence Agency—and which were, at times, illegal. Experiments on humans were intended to identify and develop drugs and procedures to be used in interrogations in order to weaken the individual and force confessions through mind control; the project was organized through the Office of Scientific Intelligence of the CIA and coordinated with the U. S. Army Biological Warfare Laboratories; the operation was sanctioned in 1953, was reduced in scope in 1964, further curtailed in 1967, recorded to be halted in 1973. There remains controversy over whether this operation ended, or continues presently; the program engaged in many illegal activities, including the use of U. S. and Canadian citizens as its unwitting test subjects, which led to controversy regarding its legitimacy. MKUltra used numerous methods to manipulate people's mental states and alter brain functions, including the surreptitious administration of drugs and other chemicals, sensory deprivation, isolation and sexual abuse, other forms of torture.
The scope of Project MKUltra was broad with research undertaken at 80 institutions, including colleges and universities, hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. The CIA operated through these institutions using front organizations, although sometimes top officials at these institutions were aware of the CIA's involvement. Project MKUltra was first brought to public attention in 1975 by the Church Committee of the United States Congress and Gerald Ford's United States President's Commission on CIA activities within the United States. Investigative efforts were hampered by the fact that CIA Director Richard Helms ordered all MKUltra files to be destroyed in 1973. In 1977, a Freedom of Information Act request uncovered a cache of 20,000 documents relating to project MKUltra which led to Senate hearings that year; some surviving information regarding MKUltra was declassified in July 2001. In December 2018, declassified documents included a letter to an unidentified doctor discussing work on six dogs made to run and stop via remote control and brain implants.
The project's intentionally obscure CIA cryptonym is made up of the digraph MK, meaning that the project was sponsored by the agency's Technical Services Staff, followed by the word Ultra, used to designate the most secret classification of World War II intelligence. Other related cryptonyms include Project MKNAOMI and Project MKDELTA; the project was headed by Sidney Gottlieb but began on the order of CIA director Allen Welsh Dulles on April 13, 1953. Its aim was to develop mind-controlling drugs for use against the Soviet bloc in response to alleged Soviet and North Korean use of mind control techniques on U. S. prisoners of war during the Korean War. The CIA wanted to use similar methods on their own captives, was interested in manipulating foreign leaders with such techniques, devising several schemes to drug Fidel Castro, it conducted experiments without the subjects' knowledge or consent. In some cases, academic researchers were funded through grants from CIA front organizations but were unaware that the CIA was using their work for these purposes.
The project attempted to produce a perfect truth drug for interrogating suspected Soviet spies during the Cold War, to explore other possibilities of mind control. Subproject 54 was the Navy's top-secret "Perfect Concussion" program, supposed to use sub-aural frequency blasts to erase memory. Most MKUltra records were destroyed in 1973 by order of CIA director Richard Helms, so it has been difficult for investigators to gain a complete understanding of the more than 150 funded research subprojects sponsored by MKUltra and related CIA programs; the project began during a period of what Rupert Cornwell described as "paranoia" at the CIA, when the U. S. had lost its nuclear monopoly and fear of Communism was at its height. CIA counter-intelligence chief James Jesus Angleton believed that a mole had penetrated the organization at the highest levels; the agency poured millions of dollars into studies examining ways to influence and control the mind and to enhance its ability to extract information from resistant subjects during interrogation.
Some historians assert that one goal of MKUltra and related CIA projects was to create a "Manchurian Candidate"-style subject. Alfred McCoy has claimed that the CIA attempted to focus media attention on these sorts of "ridiculous" programs so that the public would not look at the research's primary goal, effective methods of interrogation. One 1955 MKUltra document gives an indication of the range of the effort, it refers to the study of an assortment of mind-altering substances described as follows: Substances which will promote illogical thinking and impulsiveness to the point where the recipient would be discredited in public. Substances which increase the efficiency of mentation and perception. Materials which will cause the victim to age faster/slower in maturity. Materials which will promote the intoxicating effect of alcohol. Materials which will produce the signs and symptoms of recognized diseases in a reversible way so they may be used for malingering, etc. Materials which will cause temporary/permanent brain loss of memory.
Substances which will enhance the ability of individuals to withstand privation and coercion during interrogation and so-called
Mescaline
Mescaline is a occurring psychedelic alkaloid of the phenethylamine class, known for its hallucinogenic effects comparable to those of LSD and psilocybin. It occurs in the peyote cactus, the San Pedro cactus, the Peruvian torch, other members of the Cactaceae plant family, it is found in small amounts in certain members of the Fabaceae family, including Acacia berlandieri. However those claims concerning Acacia species have been challenged and have been unsupported in additional analysis. Peyote has been used for at least 5,700 years by Native Americans in Mexico. Europeans noted use of peyote in Native American religious ceremonies upon early contact, notably by the Huichols in Mexico. Other mescaline-containing cacti such as the San Pedro have a long history of use in South America, from Peru to Ecuador. In traditional peyote preparations, the top of the cactus is cut off, leaving the large tap root along with a ring of green photosynthesizing area to grow new heads; these heads are dried to make disc-shaped buttons.
Buttons are soaked in water to drink. However, the taste of the cactus is bitter, so contemporary users will grind it into a powder and pour it in capsules to avoid having to taste it; the usual human dosage is 200–400 milligrams of mescaline sulfate or 178–356 milligrams of mescaline hydrochloride. The average 76 mm button contains about 25 mg mescaline. Mescaline was first isolated and identified in 1897 by the German chemist Arthur Heffter and first synthesized in 1918 by Ernst Späth. In 1955, English politician Christopher Mayhew took part in an experiment for BBC's Panorama, in which he ingested 400 mg of mescaline under the supervision of psychiatrist Humphry Osmond. Though the recording was deemed too controversial and omitted from the show, Mayhew praised the experience, calling it "the most interesting thing I did". Mescaline has a wide array of suggested medical usage, including treatment of alcoholism and depression. However, its status as a Schedule I controlled substance in the Convention on Psychotropic Substances limits availability of the drug to researchers.
Because of this few studies concerning mescaline's activity and potential therapeutic effects in humans have been conducted since the early 1970s. Mescaline is biosynthesized from a hydroxylated phenylalanine. In Lophophora williamsii, dopamine converts into mescaline in a biosynthetic pathway involving m-O-methylation and aromatic hydroxylation. Tyrosine and phenylalanine serve as the metabolic precursors to synthesis of mescaline. Tyrosine can either undergo a decarboxylation via tyrosine decarboxylase to generate tyramine and subsequently undergo an oxidation at carbon 3 by a monophenol hydroxylase or first be hydroxylated by tyrosine hydroxylase to form L-DOPA and decarboxylated by DOPA decarboxylase; these create dopamine, which experiences methylation by a catechol-O-methyltransferase by an S-adenosyl methionine -dependent mechanism. The resulting intermediate is oxidized again by a hydroxylase enzyme monophenol hydroxylase again, at carbon 5, methylated by COMT; the product, methylated at the two meta positions with respect to the alkyl substituent, experiences a final methylation at the 4 carbon by a guaiacol-O-methyltransferase, which operates by a SAM-dependent mechanism.
This final methylation step results in the production of mescaline. Phenylalanine serves as a precursor by first being converted to L-tyrosine by L-amino acid hydroxylase. Once converted, it follows the same pathway. Mescaline was first synthesized in 1919 by Ernst Späth from 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl chloride. Subsequent to this, numerous approaches utilizing different starting materials have been developed. Notable examples include the following: Hofmann rearrangement of 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylpropionamide. Cyanohydrin reaction between potassium cyanide and 3,4,5-Trimethoxybenzaldehyde followed by acetylation and reduction. Henry reaction of 3,4,5-Trimethoxybenzaldehyde with nitromethane followed by nitro compound reduction of ω-nitrotrimethoxystyrene. Ozonolysis of elemicin followed by reductive amination. Ester reduction of Eudesmic acid's methyl ester followed by halogenation, Kolbe nitrile synthesis, nitrile reduction. Amide reduction of 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetamide. Tolerance builds with repeated usage, lasting for a few days.
Mescaline causes cross-tolerance with other serotonergic psychedelics such as psilocybin. About half the initial dosage is excreted after 6 hours, but some studies suggest that it is not metabolized at all before excretion. Mescaline appears not to be subject to metabolism by CYP2D6 and between 20% and 50% of mescaline is excreted in the urine unchanged, the rest being excreted as the carboxylic acid form of mescaline, a result of MAO degradation; the LD50 of mescaline has been measured in various animals: 212 mg/kg i.p. 132 mg/kg i.p. and 328 mg/kg i.p.. Mescaline induces a psychedelic state similar to those produced by LSD and psilocybin, but with unique characteristics. Subjective effects may include altered thinking processes, an altered sense of time and self-awareness, closed- and open-eye visual phenomena. Prominence of color is appearing brilliant and intense. Recurring visual patterns observed during the mescaline experience include stripes, angular spikes, multicolor dots, simple fractals that turn complex.
Aldous Huxley described these self-transforming amorphous shapes as like animated stained glass illuminated from light coming through the eyelids. Like LSD, mescaline induces distortions of form and kal
