The District House (Wed. 6/12 with Judith Lipton)

The District House is a benefit of District216. Come by for a portion or all of the evening, meet amazing members + guests, and interact with speakers on a variety of topics.

Topic: “The Dark Side of Psychedelic Research"

When: Wednesday, June 12th, 2024 from 5pm to 9pm (Speaker at 6:30pm)

Where: LoDo Studios, 216 E. Gutierrez Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

(Please only park across the street on the Office Max side of the lot.)

Members are Free to attend The District House evenings, and are prioritized when we reach capacity.

Guests Welcome to purchase $50 tickets to The District House evenings.

Note: We will be filming the speaker for the District216 Change Your Lens Series. Refreshments provided.

Speaker: Judith Lipton, Psychiatrist (MD), Author

My father was a leader in chemical warfare and the second person in the US to take LSD. I grew up with him tripping, and did my first summer job at Yale, at 14, doing LSD research. I went on to Reed College, 1967, then MD at UNC, Chapel Hill. Psychiatry residency at UNC Chapel Hill. Practiced psychiatry, psychopharmacology 1979-2009. Retired, wrote books. Moved to Goleta in 2022.

My father, Morris A. Lipton MD PhD, chose to work in chemical warfare against the Nazis, who also had extensive chemical warfare programs. He had a PhD in biochemistry, as well as his MD, and he was Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Psychiatry. At first, he worked on nerve gases. In fact, he called himself "The Adolt Eichmann of Sheep" because he killed so many sheep in Utah. Then in around 1948, he began to work on psychoactive agents. Albert Hoffman gave him LSD in 1949. In fact, my understanding is that he was the first person to take it in the US.

From 1949 to the late 1960s he worked under the auspices of MK-Ultra, the ultra secret program to develop "truth serums". At the Chicago Veterans Administration Hospital he gave countless people LSD, with or without consent. He also participated in giving LSD to Judy the Elephant, after whom I was named. She died. I am going to talk about MK Ultra, from a personal point of view.

I began doing LSD research at Yale when I was 14!! A hell of a summer job!! What was done with tax dollars for LSD research. I was too naive to steal any, but began tripping when I was about 15. My father gave me and my husband 6 vials of Sandoz acid as a wedding present in 1977.