Remember this blogpost the next time some government bureaucrat is crying for more of your money and elected officials are raising your taxes.  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded nearly $200,000 of your money to a researcher at the University of Kentucky to study how cocaine enhances the sex drive of Japanese quail.  I wish I had an imagination so good that I could make this up but no, unfortunately it is all too true. 

          NIH bureaucrats have a long history of spending your money foolishly, but this one deserves some kind of award.  RuminationsBlog has previously covered NIH studies of prostitutes in China and Vietnam, and another to determine why gay men engage in risky behaviors while drunk. 

          The grant description of this excursion into malfeasance states, “cocaine use in humans may increase sexual motivation, thereby increasing the likelihood of the occurrence of high-risk sexual behavior.”  Additionally they state that such behaviors include, “sex with multiple partners, and unprotected sex.”  The study notes that these risky behaviors, “have been linked with considerable health consequences, such as the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C.”  Sifting through the jargon, the goal of this study is to explore how bad choices (illegal drugs) lead to bad consequences (HIV and hepatitis).  My parents explained that to me for free.    

          Congress and the NIH are out of control, spending money on projects that are wasteful and unnecessary.  This fleecing of taxpayers is especially repugnant during a recession with so many looking for work or struggling.