STUDY SUBJECTS PAID TO USE COCAINE

MONTREAL - 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, Leyton 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.

He 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.

A day at the lab, located in an old psychiatric hospital, started at
8am 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 affec t 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.

After finishing a bag of cocaine, Daniel would then fill out a
personality questionnaire. A nurse would also come in every 15 minutes
to measure his pulse and blood pressure. Daniel said the rest of the
24 hours was devoted to sleeping, eating take-out food, and watching
movies.

Daniel repeated the whole process four times. The average time between
test days, Leyton said, was 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, adding that all participants 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," said
Leyton. 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.

But not everyone is as positive. Many critics are less than thrilled
with Leyton's research, which has received the attention of media
outlets 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 December 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.

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 programs 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 cravings and highs," 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.