Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 37
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Serotonergic Hallucinogens
• 1968 - The Yippies (Youth
International Party)
• Threatened to “space-out” or
“turn on” the delegates to the
Democratic National Convention
in Chicago, and everyone else in
Chicago as well, by dumping
LSD into Lake Michigan.
Module Two - The Clinical Neurotoxicology of Chemical Terrorism
37
In 1968 the Yippies threatened to “space out” delegates to the Democratic Convention
by dumping LSD into Lake Michigan. Although highly potent, the amount of water in
Lake Michigan would dilute the drug to the point of having no effect on people who drank
it. Water contamination and dilutional effects will be discussed in greater detail in the
Food/Water/Medication Module.
LSD is potent at very small doses. However, given the tremendous volume of water in
Lake Michigan, contaminating the Lake with enough LSD to produce a concentration of
LSD in the water that would have caused any noticeable effect was very far-fetched.
The dilutional effects of the water would have limited the LSD concentration to a
negligible amount.
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 107