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
"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 were interested in using 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
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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