WASHINGTON, July 21 —President Ford personally apologized today to the family of Frank R. Olson, who is said to have died after he was given a dose of LSD by Central Intelligence Agency agents in 1953.  Mr. Ford met with the Olson family and it was announced afterward that he had told them he would make available information on the case and had asked the Attorney General to meet with their legal representatives “to discuss the claims they wish to assert against the C.I.A. by reason of Dr. Olson's death.”  The'White House press secretary, Ron Nessen, said that President Ford “feels very strongly about this” and had requested that the family see him so he could express his sympathy and apologize on behalf of the United States Government for the circumstances of Dr. Olson's death.  The White House also distributed a statement by the Olson family at the family's request in which they expressed their gratitude that Mr. Ford was supporting their effort to be fully informed about Dr. Olson's death “and to obtain a just resolution of this entire matter.”  The family statement added: “We hope that this will be part of a continuing effort to insure that the C.I.A. is accountable for its actions and that people in all parts of the world are safe from abuses of power by American intelligence agencies.”  The apparent circumstances of Dr. Olson's death came to light after the Rockefeller commission report on the C.I.A. disclosed experimentation with the hallucinogenic drug LSD. The report said that one person given the drug had subsequently leaped to his death from a 10th story hotel room in New York City after requiring psychiatric treatment. Dr. Olson has since been identified as that person.  Mr. Nessen said the President had mentioned “at least a couple of weeks ago” that he wanted to apologize and express his sympathy on behalf of the American people.  The Olson family, including his widow and three children, Lisa Hayward. Nils Olson and Eric Olson, visited the President for about 17 minutes. They had asked that they be told all the facts about Dr. Olson's death.  According to a statement from Mr. Nessen, Mr. Ford told the family he had instructed the White House counsel's office to make this information available at the earliest possible date.  The statement gave no indication of how Mr. Ford views any legal claim by the family, beyond saying that the President had asked the Attorney General to meet with their legal representatives.  BALTIMORE, July 21 (AP)—United States Army personnel performing early research on LSD viewed the drug as a possible combat tool, according to the scientist who supervised the research, The Baltimore Sun reported today.  Military leaders wanted to find out all they could about substance, including its potential as a combat weapon, the newspaper quoted Amedo S. Marrazzi as saying.  Dr. Marrazzi, 70, was chief of clinical research at the Army Chemical Center at Edgewood Arsenal, Md., from 1951 to 1956. He now is with the Detroit Psychiatric Institute.  SEATTLE, July 21 (AP) —Army‐sponsored LSD experiments during the nineteenfifties were partly aimed at finding a shorter‐lasting LSD compound for use as a chemical warfare agent, a man involved in the research said today.  We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports, and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.  A version of this archives appears in print on July 22, 1975, on page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Family in LSD Case Gets Ford Apology. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Dr Amedo Marrazzi, then-chief of clinical research at Edgewood Arsenal, Md, says US Army tested LSD for potential as combat weapon during early '50s, rept in Baltimore Sun (S)