Attention male students of London: King's College wants you to snort cocaine. The school says that it will pay healthy men between the ages of 25 and 40 to do coke so they can analyze its effects. However, if you're a cokehead, you need not bother—no recreational users will be allowed to participate in the study. Also, for obvious reasons, student dentists and doctors are barred from signing up.
An email approved by the London Westminster Research Ethics Committee said “After cocaine administration, repeated biological samples (blood, urine, hair, sweat, oral fluid) will be taken to compare and investigate how cocaine and its metabolites are spread through the human body.”
The study, which will be overseen by the clinical toxicology department at St. Thomas’ Hospital, has other restrictions. None of its participants will be allowed to cut or die their hair at any point during the 120-day study.
A spokesman for King's College says that the study is being conducted to better understand the effects of the drug on the body. “This is an important scientific study to investigate how cocaine and its metabolites are spread through the human body,” he explained.
[via NY Daily News]
