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Bad trip to Edgewood consists of, interview transcripts, research files and videos for a television documentary on US Army testing of chemical and biological warfare agents on human 'guinea pigs' between 1955 - 1975, and includes files of mainly photocopied documents, reports, scientific articles, letters and newspapers articles, with some printed brochures, as well as videotapes.There is also a video copy of Bad trip to Edgewood which was produced by Michael Bilton, Yorkshire Television, and broadcast as a First Tuesday film in March 1993.

The files focus on secret projects carried out by the US Army Chemical Corps at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood, Maryland USA, between 1955-1975, in which US Army volunteers were used to test the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), benzilates such as BZ (3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, also known a QNB) and glycolates. The testing programs were suspended in 1975 when information about them became public. A number of volunteers claimed to have suffered long term mental health effects from the tests. They also claim they were not informed at the time of immediate or long term effects of the agents tested.

In 1977 US Army notified 686 volunteers who has been tested with LSD and conducted a follow up study of their health. The LSD follow-up study report released in 1980 found 'the majority of subjects evaluated did not appear to have sustained any significant damage from their participation in the LSD experiments'. There are notes and transcripts of interviews conducted with former US Army personnel who were volunteers in the research programmes, individuals involved in the running testing programs, medical experts and lawyers.

Several files relate to particular law suits including that of Sgt James B Stanley, US Army, volunteer at Edgewood during 1958. In 1977 he was informed by the army that he had been given LSD as part of the testing program. In 1987 a controversial judgement by the US Supreme Court found against Stanley, effectually granting immunity from liability for money damages for all federal officials who intentionally violate the constitutional rights of those serving in the military. Other notable cases frequently mentioned in the files include that of Frank Olson and Harold Blauer. Dr Frank R Olson, US Army scientist at Fort Detrick, apparently suicided, on 28 November 1953. In 1975 the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States (the Rockefeller Commission) revealed Olson had been given LSD without his knowledge while attending a meeting of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel eight days before his death. A civilian, Harold R Blauer died on 8 Jan 1953 after being given a lethal injection of Experimental Agent 1298 supplied by the US Army Chemical Corps to the New York State Psychiatric Institute where he was a patient. A 1975 Senate investigation revealed the facts of his death. Files also contain material on bacteriological testing by the Army and the CIA carried out in Washington DC, Florida, San Francisco, and New York. Particular reference is made to the case of Edward Nevin, a civilian, who died on 1 Nov 1950 in San Francisco as a result of a rare bacterial infection Serratia Marcescens, which coincided with a significant and unexplained outbreak of this infection between Oct 1950 and Feb 1951. In 1976 it was revealed that the US Army had conducted bacteriological warfare experiments with Serratia Marcescens over San Francisco Bay during September 1950. There is a small amount of material relating to the role of American Citizens for Honesty in Government, a Church of Scientology sponsored organisation who campaigned during 1979 for a full investigation of the testing and storage of BZ and compensation for volunteers suffering long term effects from testing of the substance, and to chemical testing carried out in the UK at Porton Down, Wiltshire, UK and production of chemical agents at Nancekuke Base, Cornwall, and Anglo American cooperation in this area.

Gulf War'. Copy of article 'Double jeopardy for US troops' from Gannett News Service 31 Dec 1991, concerning US Army testing of experimental drugs on troops stationed in the Persian Gulf.

Public trials'. Copies of scientific articles on case of Serratia Marcescens infection 1976-1977, 1984 by various authors; copies of news cuttings relating to Nevin case and US Army biological testing as well as Army Navy collaboration in 1951 germ warfare tests on a navy supply ship shipment, 1979-1980, 1988; copy of Chemical Corps Biological Laboratories report 'Biological Warfare trials at San Francisco, California 20-27 Sep 1950', 22 Jan 1951; memoranda relating to exposure of Larry Hoaditch to chemicals by US Army at Fort Hood; extract of US Army Medical Research and Development Command report 'Problem definition studies on potential environmental pollutants VIII. Chemistry and toxicology of BZ (93-Quinuclidinyl Benzilate)' Aug 1977; report on Army and Navy collaboration in San Francisco tests; US Naval Radiological Defense Laboratory report on 'Testing of the NRDL fall-out collectors during experiments at San Francisco, California, Sep 1950, 30 Oct 1950; news reports of Nevin case, 1979 and 1981; copies of scientific articles relating to Serratia infection by Victor L Yu, 1979 and 1984, and 'Infection due to chromobacteria, report of eleven cases', Richard P Wheat, Anne Zuckerman and Lowell A Rantz, Archives of Internal Medicine, Oct 1951 Vol 88; memoranda with extracts of US Senate hearing 'Biological testing involving human subjects by the Department of Defense, examination of serious deficiencies in the defense department's efforts to protect the human subjects of drug research' 8 Mar and 23 May 1977, 1980;press release by Church of Scientology, 2 Apr 1981 relating to US Army test spraying of zinc cadmium sulfide in San Francisco 1965-1967 with related documentation.

Miscellaneous memoranda on LSD research projects'. Photocopies of assorted CIA and Army memoranda, news articles, notes of interviews, relating to testing of biological and chemical weapons, also radiation experimentation.

Nevin case: Depositions (File 2)'. Papers relating to the case of Mabel Nevin et al versus USA, including copies of 'Order denying motion for Summary Judgement' Jun 1980, 'Reply memorandum, Mar 1980, 'Notice of motion to dismiss or in the alternative for summary judgement', and deposition of Richard P Wheat MD 20 Jun 1979. Also contains copy of scientific article 'Serratia Marcescens, Historical perspective and clinical review' Victor L Yu, New England Journal of Medicine, Vol 300, No16, 19 Apr 1979.

Nevin case: Depositions (File 1)'. Copies of papers relating to 1980 court action concerning Edward J Nevin a civilian non-volunteer who died as a result of bacterial infection at Stanford Lane Hospital 1 Nov 1950, linked to US bacteriological warfare testing of Serratia Marcescens in San Francisco, Sep 1950. Includes depositions of William M Creasy, former US Army Chemical Engineer at Edgewood, Charles R Phillips, chemist and civilian employee at Fort Detrick and Edgewood, and Richard P Wheat physician who treated Nevin and other Serratia Marcescens patients.

Supreme Court'. Copies of printed court documents relating to the case of US versus James B Stanley, including 'Respondent's brief in opposition in the case of USA Vs James B Stanley, and Board of Regents of the University of Maryland versus James B Stanley', Supreme Court, Oct Term 1986; an extract of Supreme Court Reporter 107 recording the 1987 judgement, and US Supreme Court Vol 483 Cases Adjudged, Oct Term 1986. Also contains news articles relating to the Supreme Court judgement of the Stanley case, Jun 1987 including Nat Hentoff's interview with former Supreme Court judge William J Brennan Jr in, 'The justice breaks his silence' Playboy, in which he comments on the Stanley case.

CIA'. Mainly contains copies of censored memoranda relating to the CIA behaviour control projects MKULTRA, ARTICHOKE and BLUEBIRD which involved testing drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD); testing carried out at Edgewood Arsenal; and death of Frank Olsen. Also contains news articles, including 'Sex drugs and the CIA, the shocking search for an "ultimate weapon"' John Marks, Saturday Review 1979.

Miscellaneous memoranda on drug research projects'. Photocopies of miscellaneous censored CIA documents relating death of Frank R Olsen, and Project MKULTRA, CIA experimentation in behaviour control.

Project MKULTRA: File 3'. Photocopies of censored CIA documentation of Project MKULTRA, CIA experimentation in behaviour control and its numerous sub-projects.

Project MKULTRA: File 2'. Photocopies of censored CIA documentation of Project MKULTRA, CIA experimentation in behaviour control, and its numerous sub-projects.

Project MKULTRA: File 1'. Photocopies of censored documents referring to CIA operations involved the use of drugs including Project MKULTRA, experimentation in behaviour control, and its numerous sub-projects: Operation MONGOOSE, a covert action program to overthrow Fidel Castro, ruler of Cuba, 1959-; Project ZRRIFLE, an assassination program; and Projects BLUEBIRD and ARTICHOKE, researching the use of drugs in interrogation. File also contains notes of interviews with W Timothy Adams, Lyman Kirkpatrick, Edward Hunter, and Chester Leese, and related material on CIA projects for chemical development and testing, and methods of surveillance and assassination.

Report to the President'. Photocopy of Report to the President, Skybolt and Nassau, American policy making and Anglo-American Relations, Richard E Neustadt, relating to a joint UK/USA nuclear deterrent project 'Skybolt' and the Conference in Nassau, Bahamas, Dec 1962 between the UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and US President John F Kennedy, 15 Nov 1963. 135pp

Miscellaneous documents'. Copies of printed material including US Army activity in the US Biological Warfare Programs, Vol I 24 Feb 1977; 'Department of the Army, Information for Members of Congress, 8 Mar 1977' relating to US Army activities in the US biological warfare testing program'; abstracts of the Declassified Documents Quarterly Catalog Vol 3 No 3, Jul-Sep 1977 and Vol 3 No 1 Jan-Mar 1977; extracts from Medical Directory 1985 and 1992 relating to Lt Cdr William Maxwell Hollyhock RN; news reports relating to biological warfare tests, Jul 1985, the death of James Thornwell, volunteer participant in Army lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) testing, 28 Jun 1984, and the case of Charles A Laswell subjected to radiation during Army testing at Eniwetok in the Pacific during 1947-1948, 15 Nov 1980; and transcript of Paul Altmeyer report for American Broadcasting Company's 'News Closeup' titled 'Mission: mind control' relating to CIA testing of chemical warfare agents, broadcast 30 Jan 1979.

Use of volunteers in chemical agent research'. Photocopy of the Inspector General, Department of the Army, Report 98, Use of volunteers in chemical agent research, 10 Mar 1976. 267pp

US Army report re use of volunteers'. Photocopy of US Department of the Army Research Report concerning the use of Volunteers in Chemical Agent Research, Col James R Taylor and Maj William N Johnson, 1976, which covers the history of chemical research in the US Army; guidelines and authorisation for use of human volunteers; research projects concerning chemical incapacitating agents including lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), benzilates and glycolates, with particular focus on the Chemical Corps work at Edgewood Arsenal. 185pp

US Congress'. Copies of reports of Congressional hearings including Human Drug testing by the CIA Sep 1977; Unauthorized storage of toxic agents Sep 1975; Project MKULTRA, the CIA's program of research in behavioral modification Aug 1977; Biological testing involving human subjects by the Department of Defense 1977; Intelligence activities Apr 1976; Foreign and Military Intelligence Final Report Book I, April 1976. Also contains statement from Ronald V Dellums, U.S. Congressional Representative from California, Ninth District, on the abuses in the Edgewood Arsenal drug testing program.

Doctors'. Typed transcripts of interviews with doctors concerning the US Army chemical and biological warfare testing including: Dr James Ketchum, psychiatrist at Edgewood during 1950s describing testing of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and 3 quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ) on army volunteers 1950s-1970s; Dr Richard Wheat, doctor at Stanford University Hospital, San Francisco discussing outbreak of Serratia Marcescens in 1951 and revelation of Army biological testing at that time; and Dr Alexander Shuglin, expert in psycho pharmacology discussing human testing of chemicals such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), scopolomene, atropine and 3 quinuclidinyl benzilate (BZ), and opinion of scientific value of the US Army testing project.