UI SEEKS POT SMOKERS FOR STUDY

Normally, people aren't paid to get high, but University of Iowa
scientists are coughing up some coin to stoners willing to help them
gain insight into the effects of marijuana.

Users won't get enough dough to live on -- maybe a month's rent -- but
they'll cash in enough to cure a mean case of the munchies.

"The hypothesis is that people that use it at an early age have a
greater effect, and the longer a person uses it the greater the
effect," said Robert Block, an associate professor in the UI
Department of Anesthesia and the lead investigator on the project.

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.

Block is looking for marijuana users for the study, along with control
subjects who consume alcohol and tobacco but not marijuana. The target
for the study is 100 people.

"The basic idea is, they are people who've been using it pretty
regularly for some time, pretty heavy, pretty frequent," Block said.
"The control subject has very little experience with marijuana."

He is looking for men and women that are right-handed -- only
right-handed because of differences in lateralization between the left
and right hemispheres of the brain -- and between the ages of 18 and
44-years-old.

Right now, Block has more male marijuana users and more female
controls on board. He still needs male and female marijuana users and
male controls.

Names of people in the study are protected from disclosure by a
federal certificate that guarantees confidentiality.

"Even if the police issue a subpoena, it could be refused," Block
said. "As a researcher we would normally promise the subject
confidentiality, and we do, but without this certificate, we don't
have the right to refuse a subpoena."

Participants would be expected to devote about 60 hours to the study,
including a lengthy screening and two overnight hospital stays, Block
said. Participants receive $20 for an initial screening session, and
those that participate fully pocket $600.

Block said out-of-town participants are reimbursed for mileage and
travel expenses, such as meals and hotels.

For information about participating, potential subjects can call
319-384-2881 or 319-384-2884.

This is the third year of a four-year study being funded by the
National Institutes of Health, Block said. NIH is providing $659,000
this year and about $2 million during the life of the project, he said.

Depending on whether results come back negative or positive, Block
said the study might ultimately be used to support political positions
on marijuana, such as people that favor harsher criminal penalties,
those that believe it should be decriminalize or those that would like
to see it used for medical purposes.

"Because it is a politically sensitive topic, if results show bad
effects, it might be used by people who oppose drug use. If they are
negative, it might be cited by people who support marijuana use,"
Block said, noting he does not have a personal agenda for this research.

Block has been studying the effects of marijuana since his college
days.

"When I was in college there was a lot of interest in psychedelic
drugs, like LSD. But by that time, it had become essentially
impossible to do research on it. That had been shut down," Block said.
"Marijuana had some effects that were similar to psychedelics."