Should we trust “research” on Vancouver´s InSite?

You should read Martin Hasiuk´s article in Huffington Post about Vancouver´s InSite. The article makes interesting reading about “research”, and who pays whom for what. Interestingly enough, Hasiuk writes that, if InSite’s chief lobbyists, who received $1.5 million from taxpayers to study its pros and cons, concluded that InSite was a good fit for Vancouver, the provincial government would consider funding it in perpetuity. Amazing.

Yes, that IS really amazing! And what is even more amazing is the fact that lobbyists for a certain cause, be it INSite or legalization of drugs, conduct “research”.

If you take a closer look at the lobbyists promoting legalization of marijuana you are bound to find some very interesting connections between lobbyists and “researchers”. Always remember that the fact that “research” has been published in a “respected” journal is not necessarily a guarantee that efforts to produce and publish the material has been guided by scientific principles, independence and integrity. On the contrary, it might have been guided by the wishful thinking of lobbyists, and ignorant media people.