homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Washington researchers want you to smoke pot -- for science

For science!

Mihai Andrei
May 22, 2017 @ 1:36 pm

share Share

Researchers at Washington State University are currently working on developing a new breathalyzer that can detect how much marijuana is in a person’s system. In order to go on with their research, they want people to help them. By smoking weed.

It’s not often you can help science by getting high. Image credits: martinalonso4895 / Flickr.

Professor Emeritus Nicholas Lovrich, doctoral candidate Peyton Nosbusch and City Councilor and research assistant Nathan Weller told the Pullman League of Women Voters that the study will require participants to answer a few questions about what they’ve eaten and drunk during the day, and then will have to give blood, breath, and oral fluid samples at the Pullman Regional Hospital. That’s when the fun part starts.

After all these initial questionnaires and tests, participants will be asked to purchase marijuana from a state-licensed retail store (sorry, the researchers aren’t buying the weed for you) and smoke it until they’ve reached a self-assessed high. Then they have to return to the hospital by taxi and give additional samples. There’s also one optional step participants can choose to take: meeting up with a police officer to undergo a sobriety test.

While you would have to purchase your own “materials,” you do get $30 for the first hour and $10 for every additional hour of participation.

The idea is to develop a new, better breathalyzer, based on ion mobility spectrometry for the detection of THC — the active ingredient in cannabis. At this moment, 29 states and the District of Columbia have legalized the medicinal consumption of marijuana, and eight states plus the District of Columbia have also legalized the recreational consumption of marijuana. However, the new Trump administration is not a fan of this move.

Specifically, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has expressed his intentions to crack down on these states.

“The attorney generals and the governors of all the states have said they will fight in court and they will make this argument, that cannabis should not be on Schedule I because it is being used as medicine in (29) states,” Lovrich said.

Still, things are likely to continue in the same direction they have, and marijuana will continue to be consumed — be it legally or not. In this case, ensuring the sobriety of drivers is extremely important, and a new generation of breathalyzer technology can do a lot of work.

The project is organized by Washington State University with funding from the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services.

share Share

Neanderthals Turned Cave Lion Bone into a 130,000-Year-Old 'Swiss Army Knife'

130,000-year-old discovery reveals a new side to our ancient cousins.

This Bionic Knee Plugs Into Your Bones and Nerves, and Feels Just Like A Real Body Part

No straps, no sockets: MIT team created a true bionic knee and successfully tested it on humans.

This New Bioplastic Is Clear Flexible and Stronger Than Oil-Based Plastic. And It’s Made by Microbes

New material mimics plastic’s versatility but biodegrades like a leaf.

Researchers Recreate the Quintessentially Roman Fish Sauce

Would you like some garum with that?

Why Warmer Countries Have Louder Languages

Language families in hotter regions evolved with more resonant, sonorous words, researchers find.

What Happens When You Throw a Paper Plane From Space? These Physicists Found Out

A simulated A4 paper plane takes a death dive from the ISS for science.

A New Vaccine Could Stop One of the Deadliest Forms of Breast Cancer Before It Starts

A phase 1 trial hints at a new era in cancer prevention

After 700 Years Underwater Divers Recovered 80-Ton Blocks from the Long-Lost Lighthouse of Alexandria

Divered recover 22 colossal blocks from one of the ancient world's greatest marvels.

Scientists Discover 9,000 Miles of Ancient Riverbeds on Mars. The Red Planet May Have Been Wet for Millions of Years

A new look at Mars makes you wonder just how wet it really was.

This Is Why Human Faces Look So Different From Neanderthals

Your face stops growing in a way that neanderthals' never did.