Feds spend $3.2 million in taxpayer money getting monkeys drunk

The National Institutes of Health distributes 50,000 grants totaling $24 billion in taxpayer money each year, and recently, the NIH has been spending on studies that analyze alcohol and its effects.

The Washington Times reports the NIH is spending $3.2 million to get monkeys to "drink alcohol excessively" in order to determine binge drinking's long-term effects on body tissue.

Meanwhile, a grant in the amount of $69,459 was awardeded to the University of Missouri to study "whether text messaging college students before they attend pre-football game tailgates will encourage them to drink less and 'reduce harmful effects related to alcohol consumption.'"

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The NIH asserts that these grants, others of which have funded research projects involving drunk mice, pilots, and gamblers, help "promising predoctoral students to obtain individualized, mentored research training from outstanding faculty sponsors while conducting dissertation research in scientific health-related fields relevant to the missions of the participating NIH Institutes and Centers."