BZ
Timeline
| 1952 | BZ is first synthesized by Hoffman-LaRoche as a possible ulcer remedy. 1 | |
| 1958 | U.S. Army begins experimenting with BZ as an incapacitant. 2 | |
| 1960 | Edgewood Arsenal begins research on BZ, designated "EA 2277". Several hundred enlisted volunteers are administered BZ at the facility over the next several years. 1 | |
| 1962 | U.S. military allocates 2 million dollars to the construction of a facility designed exclusively for weaponizing coventional bombs with BZ. 3 | |
| 1962 - 1964 | U.S. army produced over 100,000 pounds of BZ for use in Vietnam. 4 [More Info] | |
| 1963 | A technical memorandum detailing BZ's effects on 362 human subjects is published by Major James Ketchum, who participated in research experiments at the US Army Chemical Research and Development Laboratories at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland. 5 | |
| 1964 | There are claims that the U.S. Army may have begun using aerosolized BZ in Vietnam in 1964. The Pentagon denies it and the evidence is unclear. 2 | |
| 1965 | Edgewood Arsenal begins recruiting prisoners from Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia for BZ experiments. 1 | |
| Late 1960's | BZ production is discontinued because "its effects on enemy front-line troops would be varied and unpredictable". 6 | |
| 1986 | U.S. military chemical arsenal at Pine Bluff still contains BZ bombs awaiting destruction. 7 | |
| 1990 | The movie Jacob's Ladder portrays the use of psychoactive drugs on US soldiers during the Vietnam war. It references BZ as an inspiration during the end credit, though the fictionalized drug in the film has little similarity to BZ. | |
| 1995 | The former Yugoslav army is accused of using BZ against an envoy of muslim men fleeing from a UN safe area in eastern Bosnia. Human Rights Watch has gathered evidence about this incident. [Details] [More Info] | |
| 2006 | "Chemical Warfare" by James Ketchum extensively documents chemical weapons research (including BZ) conducted on volunteers at Edgewood Arsenal in the 1960s. 1 |
References
- Ketchum JS. Chemical Warfare: Secrets Almost Forgotten. James S. Ketchum, 2006.
- Lee MA, Shlain B. Acid Dreams: The CIA, LSD and the Sixties Rebellion. Grove, 1985.
- Harris R, Paxman J. A Higher Form of Killing- The Secret Story of Chemical and Biological Warfare. Hill and Wang, 1982.
- SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute). CB Weapons Today Volume II-The Problem of Chemical and Biological Warfare. e Humanities Press, 1973.
- Ketchum JS. "The Human Assessment of BZ: CRDL Technical Memorandum 20-29". US Army Chemical Research and Development Laboratories. 1963.
- U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. Detailed facts about Psychedelic Agent 3-Quinuclidinyl Benzilate (BZ).
- Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program. U.S. Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (1986).