Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, San Francisco-Prestigious medical institutions used by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert behavioral research under Project MKUltra.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Langley Porter was an active hub for the early development of psychedelic therapy. Sandoz Laboratories widely distributed LSD to researchers globally, and the CIA capitalized on this legitimate scientific curiosity. The agency funneled money into Langley Porter to study the psychotherapeutic, chemotherapeutic, and mind-altering effects of compounds like LSD, mescaline, and various paralytic drugs.
Langley Porter as one of the key locations where federal mind-drug testing was performed. Under MKUltra, the CIA sought to isolate chemical agents that could erase memory, break down a subject’s psyche during interrogation, or function as a “truth serum”. Many patients under psychiatric care at Langley Porter were given psychoactive substances without their informed consent or knowledge.