cia-readingroom-document-cia-rdp81m00980r001900070090-6__cia-rdp81m00980r001900070090-6.pdf

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RESPONSE TO INQUIRY FROM SENATOR KENNEDY REGARDING THE AGENCY'S EFFORTS TO NOTIFY MKULTRA 'VICTIMS'

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D:20161219221410Z

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RESPONSE TO INQUIRY FROM SENATOR KENNEDY REGARDING THE AGENCY'S EFFORTS TO NOTIFY MKULTRA 'VICTIMS'

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GC 78-1874 27 March 1978 .Approved For Release 2006/08/01: CIA-RDP81 M00980R0 0 1 9 0 0117_Q090-6 O _. MEMORANDUM FOR: Acting Director of Central Intelligence FROM : Anthony A. Lapham General Counsel Response to Inquiry from Senator Kennedy Regarding the Agency's Efforts to Notify MKULTRA "Victims" 1. Action Requested: It is requested that you review and sign the proposed response, attached as Tab A, to Senator Kennedy's letter of 13 March, attached as Tab B, inquiring as to the status of the Agency's efforts, in coordination with the Department of Justice, to identify, locate, and notify individuals who may have been the subjects of CIA-sponsored drug-testing as part of Project MKULTRA. 2. Background: Admiral Turner testified on 3 August 1977 before a joint hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Sub- committee on Health and Scientific Research of the Senate Committee on Human Resources, and again on 21 September 1977 before the latter sub- committee alone, concerning documents discovered last summer revealing many previously unknown details of the Agency-sponsored drug testing which was conducted under Project MKULTRA in the 1950s and 1960s. In both instances, Admiral Turner endorsed, and committed the Agency to, the concept of a program to attempt to identify, locate, and notify individuals who may have been the subjects of such drug testing. As is indicated in the proposed response to Senator Kennedy's inquiry, we have requested the opinion of the Justice Depart- ment as to the proper form of such a program. However, the problems raised in this connection are novel as well as immense and have not yet been resolved satisfactorily even on a conceptual level. Apparently there was some misunderstanding between Admiral Turner and the Attorney General as to the progress of the Justice Department's consideration of this matter at the time of Admiral Turner's appearance before Senator Kennedy's subcommittee. MORKIDIF  Approved For.Release 2006/08/01: CIA-RDP81 M00980R001 900070090-6 3. The most recent draft Justice Department opinion, now under consideration in the Office of Legal Counsel at Justice, concludes that there is a nonstatutory obligation on the part of the government to locate and notify individuals whose health may reasonably be expected to have been effected adversely by these drug tests, and a policy judgment to be made concerning notice to other drug test subjects where no such adverse effects seem likely to have resulted. The opinion also recognizes, among other things, that the records of the various universities and institutions involved are essential to the success of such a program, that CIA may well not be the entity best-suited to engage in this effort because of its dis- favored standing in academic circles, and that the scope of the investiga- tions required to locate subjects once identified must be limited to public.. sour s office has been considering the most practical means for the Agency to implement the Justice opinion so as to be in a position to make recommenda- tions to you and Admiral Turner as soon as possible after that opinion is finalized. ces so as not to intrude further into the lives of the subject M 4. For your information, relevant information concerning a similar inquiry in December 1977 from Senator Inouye, and Admiral Turner's response, is attached as Tab C. 5. Recommendation: It is recommended that you sign the attached letter to Senator Kennedy. Attachments  FppTuvea or e ease 2006/08/01 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R001900070090-6 SUBJECT: Response to Inquiry from Senator Kennedy Regarding the Agency's Efforts to Notify MKULTRA "Victims" X OGC/ARC Distribution: Orig-ADCI 1-ER 1-OGC 1-OLC

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