Trinners giving ecstasy to students, and paying them €30?!?!?

Dave!

Nah,

TCD are recruiting students who regularly use ecstasy, and giving them €30 book vouchers to take part in an experiment to research the effects of the drug on humans.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breaking/story.asp?j=171472574&p=y7y473z8x&n=171473334

(doesn't really say much tbh)

What do ye think of this? There's mixed opinions -- some people are of the opinion that broke students that don't do it already will say "hey, €30 and I only have to take a bit of X!" and that it's encouraging them to use it.

I'm of the opinion that alot of people are going to be using it already, and giving out vouchers or money is the best way of getting them to take part in the study, and that sometimes risks have to be taken in order to further scientific research.

Any thoughts?

It had to go through an ethics committee and it passed.

Tusky

30 euro book vouchers isnt the same as 30 euro

I think its a great idea.

spahndirge

Of course it's disgusting, students can't think for themselves and they'll only end up drug dealing.

Whats wrong with just testing all these drugs on things like rabbits?

impr0v

dosing trinner's students with hydrocyanic acid would be ethical.

Giblet

A rabbit can't tell you about his deadly buzz.

AngryBadger

I'ts not as if they're forcing them to take it...although for a €30 book voucher, who wouldn't find it hard to say no??!?!!

spahndirge

Giblet wrote:

A rabbit can't tell you about his deadly buzz.

And someone chewing the face off themselves can?

Dave

spahndirge wrote:

And someone chewing the face off themselves can?

Sometimes they just won't shut up about it! :v:

MorningStar

The heading on this title is delibrity misleading to get people involved. TRINITY IS NOT GIVING ANYBODY ECSTASY

Nothing wrong with asking people questions about the effects of their lifestyle

connundrum

MorningStar wrote:

The heading on this title is delibrity misleading to get people involved. TRINITY IS NOT GIVING ANYBODY ECSTASY

Nothing wrong with asking people questions about the effects of their lifestyle

So what if its misleading? I'm sure you'd get more money out of the papers in a lawsuit seeing as they ran with very similar headlines..

Give em as much e as possible I say, maybe it'll replace the 'tosser' label given to most TCD students with a much more suited 'wasted tosser'.

:v:

psilocybe

This study is for long-term users, nobody is going to go out and take ecstasy just to get into this study.

lodgepole

Studys like this were common in Canada when I lived there. Long term use can be proved and long term use should be a requirement of payment.

Since the drug is being taken in Ireland it makes sense to research its effects. And not on rabbits but on our nation's youth.

I personally can't imagine anybody deciding to take a pill because they might be given a €30 book voucher.

Eoin

Read MorningStar's post - they are not giving anyone E as part of the study.

Tha Gopher

eoin_s wrote:

Read MorningStar's post - they are not giving anyone E as part of the study.

*crosses off Trinity on my CAO shortlist so*


As for researching the effect, I dont think its a case of them packing a pile of students into the lab and asking them to take their own yokes while the docs stand around taking notes and blaring hardhouse. Its probably just asking them questions re lifestyle, money, general happiness about their lives etc etc.

This study is for long-term users, nobody is going to go out and take ecstasy just to get into this study.

In the unlikely event the experiment really is a case of them packing a load in a room and the professor roaring "gentleman, lets get marouveh" tbh Id pop a 5-8 quid pill for a 30 quid return

toffeapple

It might be interesting to see what /if they are going to give them...it would have to be close to pure mdma for safety reasons ..in which case ya can forget about the book voucher..it very hard to get pure mdma nowadays as most of the base ingredients are near impossible to get..be the safest and most likey one of the best pills ya ever took....

stevenmu

As was said, it's a study of the effects on people already using the drug. Seeing as they're already using it, I can't see any harm in encouraging them to come forward so that lists of negative effects can be compiled and given nice big headlines on a slow news day.

Eoin

Here's the article:
http://home.eircom.net/content/unison/national/7318001?view=Eircomnet

Dr Hugh Garavan, senior lecturer involved in the project, insisted: "At no stage in the study will participants be asked to take ecstasy."

I'm assuming (maybe naively), that this means no drugs will be given out or taken, rather than a substitute for E being given out.

MorningStar

toffeapple wrote:

It might be interesting to see what /if they are going to give them...it would have to be close to pure mdma for safety reasons ..in which case ya can forget about the book voucher..it very hard to get pure mdma nowadays as most of the base ingredients are near impossible to get..be the safest and most likey one of the best pills ya ever took....

THis is what is wrong with boards people don't read the article or the thread and then just make stupid comments about what they think is the subject.

THe college is giving a small payment to people for the time it takes todo the study (2 hours). No different from a survey they would do on a smoker if that was what they were studying.

Nobody is encouraged to take the drug or given it.

Completely ethical.

toffeapple

MorningStar wrote:

THis is what is wrong with boards people don't read the article or the thread and then just make stupid comments about what they think is the subject.

All the college is doing is asking the people questions about their lifestyle. They will recieve

your right i didnt read it thats why i put in the "if"..

Ciaran500

But it had already been established that they will not be giving them anything before you posted.

astrofool

is there anything mentioned about a free boat for the students as well?

Dave!

Jeez, maybe I shouldn't have used the misleading title ¬_¬

Ah well...

*Oul_Doll_Cork*

I don't see anything wrong with the offer!! If people don't take ecstacy already I don't think they would go out and take it so they can get a €30 book voucher!!!! :rolleyes:

andrew163

I see nothing wrong with it. They're just asking them questions. It's not like they're then gonna go and spend their €30 book voucher on more E..:rolleyes:

Cake Fiend

These researchers are showing themselves to be the just the predatory wretches we always suspected they were - luring our innocent doe-eyed Trinners angels into drug-taking and debauchery with the promise of book tokens, irresistable to our knowledge-hungry dotes! Scandalous.

Wertz

So did anyone hear the utter bitchfest about this on Liveline last thursday? :rolleyes:

The jibbering idiots (including Duffy himself in this case) were up in arms about any such study...many were of the opinion that TCD would be dishing out yokes to unsuspecting freshers and then locking them in a room and poking them with sticks...but when the Dr in question came on and patiently explained himself (I mean this guy was the definition of patience), we got yet more idiots phoning in to tell the country it was a disgrace etc.

People of a certain age or csocial class on this forsaken island seem to think that if we just ban everything, brush all the bad sh*t under the carpet and never mention it again, then all the bad things will go away and we'll be living in a utopia.

As someone who used ecstasy every w/e for over 8 yrs, I feel that studies such as this are of vital importance....people were and are out taking this drug in their thousands...if it effects their abilities in everyday life, long after they've quit using it then society NEEDS to know just what those effects are...does it leave them more prone to going postal whilst out on the booze, does it make them potentially bad drivers, or operators of machinery?
If someone doesn't ask these questions then we don't know...

Offering users a book token (:rolleyes: ) isn't going to have them running down to the nearest baseball cap wearing skeleton on the corner to buy a few mitsis in order to qualify for the survey...chances are most users would step up and take part in the survey without any incentive (if I lived in Dublin I'd have no problem).


I used to think that Mr Duffy and his radio show provided an important forum for people, but of late his sensationalist style, his increasingly retarded contributors and his own out and out ignornace and bias on issues he knows f*ck all about have lead me to believe that he should be retired to another slot.
I came very close to calling the liveline the other day to vent my rage with the morons calling in, but then thought, why waste my breath? I'm highly unlikely to change too many attitudes....there comes a huge sound at 1.45pm of a weekday on RTE radio1; it's the sounds of thousands of minds all slamming shut.
I'd say the labrats used in some of the more physiological tests on MDMA have more coherent opinions on it, than the chattering classes that see fit to let loose on the liveline about sh*t they have no clue about...

Cake Fiend

Wertz wrote:

So did anyone hear the utter bitchfest about this on Liveline last thursday? :rolleyes:

I heard it, and had to switch station because I couldn't listen to the old biddies claiming Satan himself was running the research labs in Trinity. I know Radio 1 has always been the conservative old fogey station, but these people hadn't even any idea what was actually happening - they obviously heard the word 'ecstacy' and went into a self-righteous foaming rage.

With all the ill-informed bigoted morons they had on, you'd swear it was the Adrian Kennedy show.

Wertz

My workmate thought I'd finally lost it when he heard me yelling at the radio in the next room lol...how that Dr. kept a cool head is beyond me...I'd have had the phone slammed down after 5 minutes or have said something I'd likely end up in court over.
I felt like switching stations but I held out for the hope that someone with a level head might be allowed on to save the day...one did, but he was ignored...Jo even asked him did he think that E tabs and peanuts had anything in common after he made the point that either has the potential to kill you :mad:
Okay so the woman who started the whole thing is aggrieved that her son is dead (from water poisoning, possibly down to the media hype about being sure to drink lots of water whilst on a buzz)....but that shouldn't really interfere with basic comprehension that this was a study on the after effects of usage...not on the effects of what it does whilst under it's influence.
The average person isn't really this stupid are they?

Also loved Duffy's comment on people not bringing up the old "drink and cigarettes are 100X as bad for you" argument since it's not at issue...the hypocrisy is almost criminal.

psilocybe

I'm listening to that now, the woman whose son died even said that he died from water poisoning, which is what causes most ecstasy-related deaths and is in turn caused by misinformation. Are we allowed do anything without Joe Duffy and his idiotic listeners moaning about it?

connundrum

connundrum wrote:

Give em as much e as possible I say, maybe it'll replace the 'tosser' label given to most TCD students with a much more suited 'wasted tosser'.

:v:

Q: Why does connundrum keep walking around in circles?

A: The big chip on his shoulder

Wertz

psilocybe wrote:

I'm listening to that now, the woman whose son died even said that he died from water poisoning, which is what causes most ecstasy-related deaths and is in turn caused by misinformation. Are we allowed do anything without Joe Duffy and his idiotic listeners moaning about it?

Only if it involves knitting and providing accomodation for orphaned puppies whilst being sure to vote for the incumbent political party and drink copious amounts of tea in the afternoon*

*Normal tea drinkers are excluded from this generalisation.

Ajnag

Sad reality of this country......The cheer leaders of the churchs actions in the past never went away..... Their just a little quiter and older now, yet their still there harbouring their agendas and backwards outlook in the shadows namely the joe duffy show.