According to a report obtained by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, in 2004 inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found several serious problems at Scripps' primate laboratory in La Jolla, California.

Government inspectors found that monkeys used in a study of the drug MDMA, or "Ecstasy," were fed less than 30% of the food they should have received. The inspectors noted that Scripps researchers ignored the advice of its own veterinarian concerning proper nutrition for monkeys.

One monkey died after receiving more than twice the approved dosage of Ecstasy. Inspectors also found that drugs used in the experiments had expired, and that living conditions for monkeys were inadequate. Scripps was forced to temporarily suspend the research in March 2004.

Unfortunately, research using monkeys to study human drug abuse continues at The Scripps Research Institute.

Michael Taffe is Director of Scripps' Primate Neurobehavioral Laboratory. Taffe and his colleagues have spent years, and millions of dollars in taxpayer money, using monkeys to study exposure to MDMA and other drugs.

Beginning in the late 1990's, six male rhesus monkeys were recycled through several different research projects. In one study, monkeys were injected with the drug scopolamine twice per week and then were trained to perform tests of short-term memory and motor coordination. Not surprisingly, Taffe noted that the results of the study were largely “consistent with previous findings.”

A year later, the same monkeys were exposed to high doses of MDMA (twice per day, four days per week). Finally, in 2001, the monkeys were again exposed to high doses of MDMA. The monkeys were killed at the end of this study.

Sadly, Taffe continues to received federal funding to continue his drug research using monkeys.