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 Leaving Cult, $

One of the primary impediments to leaving a cult, even for persons who have already realized the detrimental effect of their continued residence there, is the lack of money and job prospects facing one in leaving that environment. One may, quite literally, go from living in a psychological prison to living in a shelter; or, in the hope of avoiding that fate, sign an agreement constraining one from speaking against the destructive spiritual organization, in exchange for just a few hundred dollars.

If you ever find yourself in that sort of situation, you may wish to consider participating as a subject in bioequivalence drug testing. That is, renting yourself out as a "human guinea pig" for the testing done in bringing generic equivalents of established prescription drugs (e.g., for lowering blood pressure) to market.

If you're in good health, not using illicit drugs (it will show up in your blood tests if you are) or prescription medications, and not squeamish about venipuncture (i.e., blood draws from your arms via needles), it's an excellent way of getting some quick cash in your hands. (You also generally have to be willing to eat meat during the days of confinement, as there are usually "required" meals which you have to finish. Occasionally, though, you will find a study where it would be possible in theory to stick to a vegetarian diet.)

Payments in Toronto range from $800 for two overnight stays—often with return blood draws at around an additional $50 per draw—to several thousand dollars for longer (e.g., 2 x 14-day) confinements.

You will often meet students in those studies who are paying their way through university by participating. "Underemployed artists" regularly show up, too—the collapse of the Toronto film industry after the SARS scare drove them from acting as extras in movies to "bleeding for dollars."

The primary, global center for finding the websites (and current study listings, often posted online) of the relevant companies is at www.gpgp.net ("Guinea Pigs Get Paid").

Toronto:

Allied Clinical

Apotex

Biovail

Pharma Medica

Ventana (also does some riskier, "first-in-human" studies)

Montreal:

MDS

Anapharm

Algopharm

Buffalo Clinical Research Center

Biotrax

Generally, international citizens can participate in Canadian drug studies as long as they have valid health coverage. The U.S. is much stricter, requiring you to have a Social Security Number or comparable ID. So, if you're not an American citizen, you usually can't legally participate in U.S. studies.

If you need a cheap ride to a city in which such studies are done, check out the city-by-city rideshare links on craigslist.org.

Inexpensive short-term accommodation can be had in a hostel, or via a short-term rental as posted on craigslist under "housing."

Or, if none of that works for you, there's always sperm donation....