Justices to Rule on Army LSD Suits, ‘Gray Market’

The Supreme Court agreed today to decide if soldiers can sue the military for injuries suffered during secret LSD tests, and the court also said it will rule on an import case that could cost American consumers billions of dollars.

The justices will hear arguments this term in the LSD testing case brought by the government, seeking review of a ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that sent the matter back to the lower courts for trial.

The case began in February, 1958, when James Stanley, a master sergeant in the Army, volunteered for a program he was told involved designing and testing military equipment and protective clothing for chemical warfare.

Unknown to Stanley, on four occasions he was given LSD--a mind-altering drug that gained popularity among the counterculture in the 1960s and 1970s--in his drinking water.

Stanley retired in 1969 and was not told of the nature of the experiment until December, 1975, when he received a letter from the Army asking for his participation in a follow-up study.

Attorneys for Stanley said he experienced hallucinations during the tests and afterward had recurrent hallucinations, periods of incoherence, sleeplessness and violent episodes that led to the breakup of his marriage.

In the import case, the justices will hear arguments in three separate appeals of a ruling by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which said Customs Service rules violate federal laws giving broad protection to U.S. trademark owners.

Seeking high court review, lawyers for K mart Corp., which sells certain “gray market” imports in its 2,000 discount department stores, said consumers would suffer if the rules are overturned.

“Gray market goods” are trademarked products--such as perfumes, cameras and appliances--manufactured abroad and imported by independent retailers rather than authorized U.S. importers and distributors.