Former inmates at America’s first prison for drug addicts tell the fascinating and previously untold story of jazz, human drug testing and secret CIA research.
From 1935 until 1975, just about every American junkie busted for drug offences went to the United States Narcotic Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, an ambitious government centre dedicated to finding a cure for addiction. It was a unique institution, equal parts federal prison, treatment centre, farm, and laboratory. And, inevitably, it became the gathering place for the country’s growing drug subculture of street hustlers, drugstore cowboys and even jazz greats such as Chet Baker, Elvin Jones, and Sonny Rollins.
But the Narcotic Farm also became the world’s centre for addiction research. For forty years, elite scientists conducted groundbreaking experiments on prisoners, giving massive doses of heroin, cocaine, and other drugs to inmates who eagerly volunteered to get high in the name of science.
Today the vivid recollections of former addicts who spent years inside the prison and astonishing, government-produced films bring to life a story of noble intentions and lingering questions. Was the research program ethical? Was it worth it? The inmates themselves come to some surprising conclusions.
Narrated and scored by former inmate Wayne Kramer of the infamous late 60s anti-establishment rock group MC5.

Director: JP Olsen / Luke Walden
Producer: JP Olsen / Luke Walden
Cinematographer: Luke Walden
Music: Wayne Kramer
Country: United States of America
Length: 55 minutes
Official film website