Pubdate: Tue, 03 Feb 2004
Source: Brock Press, The (CN ON Edu)
Copyright: 2004 The Brock Press.
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Author: Erika Meere, The McGill Daily

STUDY PAYS STUDENTS TO INGEST COCAINE

MONTREAL (CUP) - It's not every day that a McGill professor is mentioned on
the Jay Leno Show.

Then again, it's not every day that a researcher pays people $500 to take
cocaine.

Dr. Marco Leyton has done just that. Last winter, he placed ads in local
newspapers asking for men aged 18-40 who had used cocaine in the past year
to participate in a study that would involve four 24-hour hospital stays, an
interview, the ingestion of protein drinks, and the administration of
cocaine.

Leyton explained that the primary goal of the study was to identify
treatments that can reduce cocaine cravings and cocaine-induced highs.

"If we can do this in the laboratory, it might point the way to developing
effective medicines," he said.

Ten participants were selected for the study from a group of over 100
respondents based on health and safety considerations, and past use of
cocaine. Each of the men chosen had previously used cocaine, but none were
addicted to the drug.

One of the participants, a 20-year-old McGill chemistry major from Toronto
who will be referred to as Daniel, started taking cocaine at the age of 14
because "it was around."

He said he chose to participate in the study for mixed reasons.

"The science interested me, and the money definitely helped," he said. Out
of a group of six friends who applied to participate in the study, Daniel
was the only one accepted.

A day at the lab, located in an old psychiatric hospital, started at 8 a.m.
with a urine test to ensure participants were clean of any illicit
substances. Afterwards, Daniel would be given a protein shake rich or
deficient in certain amino acids, chemicals that affect the
neurotransmitters involved in the behavioural and physiological reactions to
cocaine.

"From there, around two o'clock, I would be moved to a room in the
psychiatric ward of the mental hospital, and Dr. Leyton would put down a
mirror and a razor blade and three bags of coke, and he would instruct me to
take three lines out of the first bag at my own pace," explained Daniel.

"Each time I finished a bag, I would have to fill out a personality
questionnaire, and every 15 minutes a nurse would come in and measure my
pulse and blood pressure," said Daniel.

Daniel said the rest of the 24 hours was devoted to sleeping, eating
take-out food, and watching movies.

"It was kind of like a sleep over, and that's the way Dr. Leyton wanted me
to look at it," said Daniel.

Daniel repeated the whole process four times. The average time between test
days, Leyton said, is two and a half weeks, but in Daniel's case it was four
or five days.

Dosages are roughly equal to what a cocaine user would take, but much
smaller than an addict would take.

"The dose is based on body weight, and corresponds to roughly 10 to 25 per
cent of what a cocaine-dependent individual would average each day," said
Leyton. "All participants in the study have previously taken cocaine in the
same dose range."

Despite criticism from various organizations, Leyton - whose research has
not been published yet - insists his study is safe.

"Under the conditions of the study, the health risks are minimal," he said,
adding that in 100 similar studies involving 1,000 people, there were no
serious adverse responses.

"This is quite different from the situation on the street where people don't
really know what they are taking, where they are mixing the cocaine with
other drugs, where they have not had a careful medical screen beforehand,
and where they are not being watched by medical personnel," he said.

Daniel claimed the experience was "amazing," and felt safe working with
Leyton. He plans to return for another study - this time he'll be taking
crystal methamphetamine.

"Leyton was so professional, so nice, so receptive, helpful. He really made
himself available. He answered all my questions and never hid anything from
me."

Daniel said he was comfortable with the safety of the study, and the risks
involved.

"The whole screening process selects against people who really are addicts,
so there's no risk for people like me [from becoming addicted]. I have top
marks, live in a high rent apartment. He's looking for people like me who
aren't addicts, who live completely normal lives."

"And to be able to sit down and snort coke with a McGill prof is so cool."

But not everyone is as positive. Many critics are less than thrilled with
Leyton's research, which has received media attention ranging from Jay Leno
to Internet forums to the UK's esteemed Independent newspaper. One of the
most common concerns was the fact that participants were paid to take a
potentially harmful drug.

"Do we really need to pay them $500? Are Canadians that naive?" Leno asked
on his Dec. 13 show.

But Dr. Simon Young, another researcher in the psychiatry department, said
that it is common practice to compensate study participants at minimum wage
for their time and expenses.

"I don't think cocaine users should be discriminated against for taking
cocaine," he said. At $500 for close to 100 hours, Dr Leyton's study pays
about $5 per hour.

Gerry Sidel, director of Montreal's Addington House treatment centre,
rejects Leyton's study regardless of whether or not participants were paid.

"The problem is not the drug - it's the psyche of the addict. [Leyton] is
treating the symptoms, not the underlying problems."

Leyton responded by comparing his study to the treatment of depression,
where both psychotherapy and antidepressant medications play an important
role.

"Patients with addiction problems deserve the same consideration and range
of help," he said.

Others have criticized the $700,000 cost of the study, which was funded by
the provincial and federal governments.

"Addicts in this country need funds for medium and long term treatment
facilities, for rehabilitation program and centres. That is where the money
should be spent," said Randy White, Opposition House Leader for the Canadian
Alliance in a press release.

Leyton stands by his study, claiming that it might help with the treatment
of cocaine addiction.

"The issue for me as a medical scientist is that there are no treatments. We
simply do not have medications that are effective. It is my hope that the
research we are doing here will teach us how to decrease cocaine craving and
high," he told the Abbotsford News.

Despite the many criticisms, Leyton's study received legal permission from
the Government of Canada and ethical approval from the McGill University
Health Centre Board of Ethics.

Margaret Somerville, the Acting Director of the McGill Centre for Medicine,
Ethics and Law expressed confidence in the university ethics board's
decision to approve the study.

"McGill's ethics committee is very good - there's no reason to think that
this particular study wouldn't have been very carefully examined," she said,
adding that the ethics committee would have carefully gone over such details
as the scientific validity of the study, the background preparation, consent
forms, and whether the subjects are aware of the health and safety issues.

And while Leyton's study may seem unconventional, the practice of paying
people to take cocaine for research is not exceptional. A quick Internet
search revealed five other studies currently inviting cocaine users to take
the drug. In these studies, participants were promised up to $1,080 US in
compensation. In all cases, the research was based out of a U.S. university.

Dr. John Halpern is an American researcher who, in 2002, carried out a study
in which cocaine was administered to individuals who were using the drug
regularly. The goal of the study was to determine the effects of cocaine on
immune response.

In Halpern's study, which was conducted through Harvard-affiliated McLean's
Hospital, Halpern gave participants 0.4 mg of cocaine intravenously.

"It was responsibly done," he said. "No one was harmed." Participants earned
"a few hundred dollars" for two visits to the lab.

Halpern was skeptical about the potential benefits of Leyton's study.

"It sounds a bit fruit loopy to me," he said, "We know the risks don't
always justify the means."

Halpern said the hesitance among researchers who work with drugs like
cocaine and alcohol to discuss their research has led to confusion about the
rationale behind their experiments.

"Some [members of the public] are out for a witch hunt," he said. "It's
better to talk about this sort of research than to have the public be
shocked later when they hear about it." 
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