The National Health and Alcohol Study may be coming to your home to ask for probing personal information about your health habits, and collect a saliva sample.  SOTR learned of this development through the blogger Ann Althouse, who gave a very detailed account of her husband Mead’s encounter with a very Census-esque individual at their front door:

Me, I don’t answer the doorbell unless I already know who is there, but Meade went to the door to find a man with a clipboard and a National Health and Alcohol Study badge. If somehow I’d gone to the door, I’d have seen through the window that it was a man with a clipboard and given my no-none-of-that-here hand gesture and never opened the door. And if somehow I’d started talking to the guy and he’d said the first thing — that he was doing a government health survey — I’d have abruptly refused. No way! And if he’d reached the part about giving a saliva sample, I’d have laughed in his face.

Here is a snippet from the actual website explaining that it’s your choice of course, but to remember why it is so very important that you participate.

Why should I participate in the NHAS?

It is very important for you to take part in the study because your home represents many others like it throughout the country. It’s up to you to decide if you want to join the study. But because of the way we selected your address, we can’t substitute another one for yours if you decide not to join.

Taking part in this study is a service to your community and to the nation. The answers you give us will help give the government the most complete information possible when making health decisions that affect all of us.

This actually sickens me.  Over 100,000 Americans have submitted themselves to what amounts to a serious invasion of their privacy by our Federal Government costing taxpayers over $9 million dollars so far…   And for what?  I thought that the government was reeling from the scary sequester?  What a crock of bull.

So here’s the suggestion: Just say NO and shut your door.  Don’t give some bubble headed census worker your DNA for $90.00, K?