National Tea Party Alert (NTPA) reports that this year's "Golden Hookah" Award goes to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) for what seems to be one of the zaniest money-wasting projects in years.
According to CNSNews, the NIDA has spent over $3.6 million over the past ten years "funding research that involves getting monkeys to smoke and drink drugs such as PCP, methamphetamine (METH), heroin, and cocaine..."
NTPA characterizes this project is the well-deserved winner of CNSNews.com's "What Were They Smoking Award", which is symbolized by the highly-coveted Golden Hookah (video here)
CNSNews contacted the NIH and asked:
“The Census Bureau says the median household income in the United States is $52,000. How would you explain to the average American mom and dad--who make $52,000 per year--that taxing them to pay for this grant was justified?”
In an e-mail, the NIH responded that the research would help create better drug treatment models, alleviating the financial burden on society caused by drug addiction.
“Drug abuse and addiction are a major burden to society; economic costs resulting from tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug abuse are estimated to exceed $600 billion dollars annually in the United States--including health, crime-related costs, and losses in productivity,” said the NIH.
No word on nominees for next years Golden Hookah.
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