1920

Congress makes Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), established in 1918, a permanent branch of the army. In 1922, CWS creates a Medical Division, so “Chemical warfare research thus continues, if slowly, even after the war ended” (Susan Smith, II, loc 446). The ongoing research flew in the face of the Geneva Protocol of 1925, which banned the use of chemical and biological weapons. But many of the 38 signatories signed only with stipulation that they supported policy of “no first use of chemical weapons. Nor did the Protocol prohibit the possession of chemical weapons” (S. Smith, II, loc 440-461). In WWII, the CWS had 65,000 soldiers (loc 622). Most mustard gas experiments took place under the auspices of the CWS and the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), and affected more than 60,000 Americans, along with over 2,500 Canadians, 2,500 Australians, and 7,000 Britons (loc 160-62). After WWII, practically the entire program and staff of the CWS would be assembled into the drug research program of the Sloan-Kettering Institute (DeVita & Chu, 8045).