60's video shows British soldiers under the influence of LSD

LSD is one of the most potent hallucinogenic drugs ever known, and the substance - called lysergic acid diethylamide - was first synthesized in 1938. The compound is obtained from a fungus that can be found in rye and others. grain, and became quite famous in the 1960s, especially among advocates of counterculture.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH), the use of LSD can trigger the manifestation of various emotional sensations, as well as cause changes in perception capacity. At higher doses, users tend to hallucinate and may, for example, believe that they can hear colors and see sounds.

In addition, it is very difficult to predict what the drug's effect will be, and depending on one's psychological state, it can arouse feelings of despair, panic, paranoia, and fear of losing control, resulting in an extremely unpleasant experience. Not to mention flashbacks, that is, the repetition of certain portions of LSD “travel” days - and even years - after contact with the substance.

Crazy Soldiers

After reading a little about LDS and its effects, who in their right mind would give this kind of drug to a band of (apparently) armed soldiers? The British Army! Well, dear reader, the Armed Forces in the service of the Crown of England conducted experiments in which they administered lysergic acid diethylamide to their men to see what was happening - and some of them were recorded on video. Check out:

According to the narrator, the drug was given to a group of soldiers before they began a series of tactical exercises, and just 25 minutes after the LSD was taken, the first effects could already be noticed. As he explained, although most men were relaxed - and even laughing - one of the boys did not react very well to the substance and had to be removed from the experiment.

Thirty-five minutes after taking the substance, the platoon radio operator began to have difficulty handling the equipment (you can see it tangling with the device in minute 0:28 of the video), and the efficiency of the team responsible for the rocket launcher dropped dramatically. Yes, dear reader, they gave missile launchers into the hands of drugged soldiers!

From that point on, the thing went downhill for good. The soldiers - who were participating in an exercise that simulated attacking an area occupied by enemy troops - lost all sense of urgency and simply couldn't decide what to do.

At minute 0:48, for example, you can see the platoon commander trying to use the map to locate headquarters, and the officer responsible for escorting the prisoners unable to recognize the structure - which was a few feet away and in Full view. Then the narrator explains (as we see a soldier all wrapped up in a tree) that radio communication has also become impossible throughout the exercise.

An hour and ten minutes after taking the LSD, the poor officers are seen trying - between laughs - to get on with their activities. However, after one of the soldiers decided to climb a tree (at minute 1:18 of the video) to feed the birds, the platoon commander decided to give up the exercise, admitting that he was no longer able to control his men or him. really, bursting out laughing.

* Posted on 11/24/2015