SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A former deputy U.S. marshal and Marine Corps veteran who claims the CIA slipped LSD into his drink in 1957 as part of a mind-control project offered enough evidence to send his $12 million lawsuit to trial, a federal judge ruled Monday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel ruled in favor of Wayne Ritchie, citing an apparent admission from a former CIA operative.

"I drugged guys involved in about 10, 12 (instances)," former federal narcotics agent Ira Feldman, who worked for the CIA's Project MKULTRA, told Ritchie's lawyer in a sworn deposition in February 2003. "I didn't do any follow-up. ... You just back away and let them worry like this nitwit, Ritchie."

Ritchie, 75, believes he may have been a guinea pig for the CIA's MKULTRA project, in which LSD and other drugs were given to hundreds of unsuspecting Americans during the Cold War.

Ritchie believes his drinks at a 1957 office Christmas party attended by a federal agent involved in the project were spiked.

The government denies drugging Ritchie and accuse him of concocting the theory to cash in on publicity about MKULTRA, the subject of congressional hearings in the 1970s and a 1997 movie.

One man's 'thank you' is another man's lawsuit......

So the guy trips. Now he wants to sue.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

And we had to buy it!

William Rogers..........

I'm gonna sue too I'm positive it was the CIA in black helicopters that fed it to me numerous times in the 80's.

Halliburton manufactured it and sold it to Neocons as they plotted overthrow of democracies everywhere.

B

For those who think the LSD lawsuit is bogus, what is your objection? Based on the information given here, it is hard to know whether the plaintiff has a legitimate complaint, although I wonder why it isn't barred by the statute of limitations.

For the sake of discussion, ignore the statute of limitations issue. Assume the guy has proof that the CIA drugged him without his consent and that he can prove he suffered a specific injury as a result. Those are two big assumptions, but assume they are true. Based on those assumptions, would this still be a bogus lawsuit? If so, why?

Timothy's been heading there for years

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past MB rides:
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I am curious. Assuming that this fellow's story is 100% true (no reason to believe otherwise), what real recourse is there? LSD was not an illegal substance, after all. Does the fact that there were no laws prohibiting the distribution or use of LSD come into play?

How much can you get paid for a bad trip?

How much damage could've been done? I can imagine the quote..."It totally blew my mind, man!"

Again, assuming that he can prove that the LSD injured him and that he did not give consent, then I would think that he has a claim. I base that on no legal authority, just a gut reaction. I don't think LSD's status as a legal substance matters. For example, if you spike my drink with alcohol or cold medicine or some other legal substance, and it injures me, I should be entitled to compensation.

Just my gut feeling.

I agree, but if you were to make that assertion 50 years from now, I doubt if you'd get much play...

And to think that college students the world over would line up for such an opportunity!

Leave it to a pro law enforcement person and doubtless his lawyer buddies to pursue a legal beating 45 years after the fact. Why do so many people never ever get over anything in their lives?

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...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

I think that's right. The weakness in his case seems to be more a matter of proof than a problem with his legal theory.

Maybe they are my neighbors, did they throw away their guns and uniforms buy tie dyed T shirts,78 Touota pickup trucks and move to Western Oregon.now that would be cause for lost wages............

William Rogers........