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The Weyburn Mental Hospital
Notorious Canadian mental institution, home to some of the first LSD experiments and origin of the word "psychedelic"
Category Incredible Ruins
Only one corner of the massive, four winged structure.
The Weyburn Mental Hospital opened in 1921 and quickly became one of Canada's most notorious psychiatric institutions. It was the site of lobotomies, electric shock therapy, and some of Canada's controversial LSD experiments. It was here that Dr. Humphrey Osmond coined the word "psychedelic" and was among the first to administer LSD in psychiatric experiments.
Between 1953 to 1960, thousands of alcoholics were dosed with LSD under controlled conditions. Curiously it wasn't a complete failure, and half of the dosed alcoholics remained sober over a year later. The experiments at Weyburn also piqued the interest of the CIA, who hoped to use LSD as a truth serum. This would eventually lead to the CIA's infamous MK-Ultra program, which attempted mind-control and chemical interrogation partially through the use of LSD.
In 1971, the Weyburn Mental Hospital closed its doors and patients were transferred to other institutions. The building now stands abandoned as the government plans its demolition.
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- Hours Closed to the Public.
- Address Weyburn, Canada
- Cost Closed to the Public.
Weyburn, SK.
Comments
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Anonymous
January 2, 2011
incorrect Anon! Both Hoffer and Osmond "played that game", as you refer to it. I have an aunt who was one of Hoffer/Osmond patients and was given lsd as part of the "experiment" the CIA had them on contract for. She is still alive, albeit with drug induced parkinsonism thanks to both their "help". when my family went to NB to speak with her doctor's and demanded to see her medical file --OOPS--it suddenly disappeared with her still in hospital. It was never found even on the day she was discharged - which was very shortly after her family returned home. She never had a mental illness and still does not. Also please note that when experiments are performed in medical science they are generally done with two groups - those with and those without illness - in order to legitimize the results. Someone had to have been the gatherer of the healthy in this scheme and the mother of a small child would not and did not willingly give consent to be involved in a program such as this. Too bad Hoffer is dead, I would have loved to sue his butt off --- on second thought I probably would have come up with something more creative than that. However, I would expect by now he is burning his butt off in hell for the experiments he performed on so many vulnerable and at one time healthy people. I have heard them referred to as Canada's Mengele Twins. It is disgusting that these men tried to legitimize their works in later years. Guess they were afraid to die without at least trying to erase their smutty past. . Thank you God for being the final justice. -
Anonymous
November 16, 2009
The Weyburn Mental Hospital was demolished in April of 2009. Sadly, the remarkable murals painted by patient James Eadie in 1955 could not be preserved. To associate the psychedelic psychiatry research at Weyburn with MK-Ultra is misleading. Osmond never played that game, which in Canada is better associated with D.E. Cameron at the Allen Institute in Montreal
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