A new experiment at the University of Washington will pay mothers to smoke marijuana while pregnant to later measure its effects on their infants at 6 months of age.
And taxpayers will help pay for it — to the tune of $190,000.
While the idea on its face seems reckless and wildly dangerous, the stated purpose of the experiment makes a little sense — if you can get over the fact that it will likely harm babies who didn’t ask to be part of some pay-to-smoke program.
The official description of the project explains that the increase in both decriminalization and potency of marijuana over the past 30 years warrants further studying the effects of marijuana use during pregnancy.
The project will involve 70 mothers — half will use prescribed medicine to combat morning sickness and the the other half will smoke marijuana for the same purpose.
The mothers will each receive $300 for their participation.
The infants will undergo brain scans when they reach six months of age to identify any possible impacts and risks of drug exposure, including the development of brain disorders.
“The very few investigations that have studied prenatal cannabis exposure and infant brain development have all involved women who are polysubstance drug users,” said Dr. Natalia Kleinhans, one of the supervisors of the study.