Dear Editor: One side says marijuana is much less harmful than tobacco and/or alcohol, while the other side says that such vague general claims are untrue - that cannabis is not at all so innocuous. Plus, with a possible referendum in B.C.'s near future - which, if the pro-pot activists have their way, can lead to similar referendums across Canada - we'll likely even hear/read much more of such polarized perspectives.
I must admit that research findings regarding pot's effect on health that 'reveal' a benign or, contrarily, insidious nature of cannabis consumption make me instinctually wonder: Who commissioned the research? As cynical as it may sound, I'm one who believes that knowing the interests of the entity who has commissioned the research quite often reveals much about the research "findings" to come.
The research commissioner will typically propagate self-descriptive adjectives such as "independent," but such doesn't necessarily translate into 100 per cent accuracy, for research methodology can be quite manipulative.
Frank G. Sterle, Jr.
