Associated Press - April 12, 2008 3:04 PM ET
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - A group of University of Iowa scientists is looking for marijuana smokers to help gain insight into the drug's effects. And they plan to pay subjects as much as $600 to smoke their pot.
The study examines how marijuana affects brain function and cognition, with particular attention to the duration of use and the age of first use. The measure is brain imaging studies and achievement tests, such as for math and verbal skills.
Robert Block is an associate professor in the school's Department of Anesthesia and the lead investigator on the project. He says the group is looking for pot users and control subjects who consume alcohol and tobacco - but not marijuana - to participate in the study.
Subjects receive $20 for an initial screening session. Those that participate fully pocket $600.
Block said that, depending on the results, the study might ultimately be used to support political positions on marijuana. Those could include whether there should be harsher criminal penalties, whether it should be decriminalized, or whether it should be allowed for medicinal purposes.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - A group of University of Iowa scientists is looking for marijuana smokers to help gain insight into the drug's effects. And they plan to pay subjects as much as $600 to smoke their pot.
The study examines how marijuana affects brain function and cognition, with particular attention to the duration of use and the age of first use. The measure is brain imaging studies and achievement tests, such as for math and verbal skills.
Robert Block is an associate professor in the school's Department of Anesthesia and the lead investigator on the project. He says the group is looking for pot users and control subjects who consume alcohol and tobacco - but not marijuana - to participate in the study.
Subjects receive $20 for an initial screening session. Those that participate fully pocket $600.
Block said that, depending on the results, the study might ultimately be used to support political positions on marijuana. Those could include whether there should be harsher criminal penalties, whether it should be decriminalized, or whether it should be allowed for medicinal purposes.
Im sitting here right now with my last J in hand..Ill be trying to quit again for probably the 88th time. People that say it has no ill effects are dead wrong....when my throat lesions turn to cancer ill post the pics and we'll see who says its not harmful..
its all I do. I quit drinking 5 years ago and now enjoy 2-3 bong hits per session. I smoke maybe 2-3 times a day. Its the best way to relax IMO. I have a brother that never smokes and we both have high stress jobs...he is 1 1/5 years younger but looks almost 10 years older than me. I never smoke joints ...always through water pipe.
When your throat lesions turn to cancer as a result of cannabis intake, you'll be a medical milestone since it's never been demonstrated to inspire creation of cancer.
Now if you're a tobacco user also, you've got problems and that would be your most sensible addiction with which to deal.
