Smoking weed for free

Ever have one of those conversations that leave you with more questions than answers? Recently, I was talking with one of my students and she is currently working with a drug testing lab. You know: one of those places that gives you a blue pill and you are either cured of what ails you or you grow a third hand dead center in your chest. In this particular lab, they are studying the effects of marijuana and crack on the brain. They put ads in the paper looking for heavy smokers to come in for a trial study. The program is government funded. Their hope is to develop a drug that blocks the effects of these two drugs on the brain just like the one that exists for alcohol. I get the logic: if smoking or shooting up doesn't give you a high then you'd stop doing it and you'd probably kick the habit. Makes sense but I can't help but ask some basic questions:

Firstly, since the study is government funded, it means that the government is buying weed and paying people to smoke it! I know that it is in the name of science but sometime doesn't seem right about this. Also, it doesn't seem right that there young men in federal prison because of Rockefeller Laws for possession/using while other are being paid to indulge. The lab should stop advertising for participants and judge should start sentencing people to take part in the study. Solve two problem at the same time.

You hear about a new study proving X theory or a new study proving Y concept all the time. I am always pissed off because they get taxpayer money to prove something is blatantly obvious: "a new study shows that driving a car into a brick wall will result in serious damage to the vehicle. Researchers came to this conclusion after a $4M study that was conducted all over the world to prove that climate, altitude, and sangrias did not affect the outcome..." C'mon son! The conversation with my student left me wondering again what else I'm paying for unbeknownst to me.

Let's talk about these ads that they place in the paper. I thought that weed heads were generally paranoid people, even when they're not high. When my student said that they get pages and pages of names of people responding to this ad, it boggled my mind! What morons are answering these ads!?!? If I saw an ad looking for heavy weed smokers and the study would be providing weed for free, I would immediately think its a set up! I wouldn't trust it at all but I guess the lure of free pot is stronger than skepticism!

Lastly, I have to tap into my bleeding heart liberal side: I don't know how much is being spent on this study but is this the right way to spend government funding? Something seems wrong when this study get approved but music programs in schools are being eliminated. I understand how politics work and that drug companies have far better lobbyist than educators, but that doesn't make it sit any better. And if your ARE going to spend money on developing a drug, can it be a drug that has a more practical use like a pill that could be given to every dead beat dad that would cause him to be repulsed by the site of a woman that he is attracted to. Or a pill for pedophiles that causes them to experience explosive diarrhea every time his thinks a kid is sexy. Or one that makes garbage men less ornery and more considerate! I'm just sayin...

Well like it said, my conversation with my student left me with more questions that answers. Sometimes I really think that we live in a very odd country...

Anyway...these are my thoughts...what are yours?