Instant Impact: After WCW Exposes ‘Coke Hound’ Experiments, Congress Demands Answers

Posted by Amanda Nieves
04 February 2022 | Blog


White Coat Waste Project (WCW) just exposed wasteful and cruel experiments at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), which spent millions of tax dollars injecting puppies with cocaine for months on end just to fulfill an outdated FDA drug testing mandate. We didn’t think these wasteful and cruel “coke hound” experiments were a great use of taxpayer funds.

Apparently, neither does Congress.

Just days after our viral exposé, U.S. Representatives Brendan Boyle (D-PA) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), along with 14 bipartisan colleagues in Congress, have now sent a letter to NIDA, demanding information on their cruel and wasteful puppy experiments.

The letter from Rep. Boyle (a Waste Warrior awardee, and lead sponsor of the WCW-backed AARF Act) and Rep. Mace (also a Waste Warrior, and AARF cosponsor!) takes direct aim at NIDA’s wasteful spending and FDA’s labyrinthine and burdensome red tape.

Read the full letter below

The bipartisan letter was cosigned by Reps. Nanette Barragán (D-CA), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Fred Keller (R-PA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Brian Mast (R-FL), Bill Posey (R-FL), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Darren Soto (D-FL), Dina Titus (D-NV), Rashida Tlaib (D-MN) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ).

Calling the cocaine experiments “abusive, expensive and unnecessary,” Reps. Boyle and Mace’s letter asks important questions, such as: “Since the Food and Drug Administration has stated that it does not require dog testing for new drugs, why has NIDA continued to commission testing on dogs?”

We’ve wondered the same thing for years. Our report, “Broken Bureaucracy,” explored how FDA’s outdated dog testing mandate harms patients, drug manufacturers, and animals alike.

Change is long overdue — but with lawmakers of both parties pushing back against FDA’s animal testing mandate, we’re getting closer and closer every day.


Read the full letter:

Blog Comments

HORRIBLE! INHUMANE! WASTE OF TAXPAYER MONEY! IRRESPONSIBLE! AND JUST PLAIN EVIL! MAKE IT STOP NOW PLEASE!

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