‘Incomplete information’
Jason W. Busse, DC, PhD, associate director of the Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont., described the study as rigorous, but with limitations acknowledged by the authors.
“Understanding how these companies are promoting themselves and justifying themselves as good corporate citizens is important,” said Dr. Busse. “The investigators have undertaken a comprehensive study and identified CSR activities that cannabis companies are engaging in. We know from past experiences with tobacco companies that these activities may be used in part to encourage less regulation and increase market access.”
One constraint of the study is that the investigators used documents that were in the public domain, as opposed to internal company information. “The investigators were limited to the information that they were able to access,” said Dr. Busse. “Unless you use the Freedom of Information Act to compel companies to release internal documents, you don’t have that information. They haven’t done that, and it is almost a certainty that the authors had to work with incomplete information.”
The investigators suggest a need for oversight of the cannabis industry’s CSR practices, and Dr. Busse agreed with this assessment. “While engagement in social responsibility activities by cannabis corporations may have positive results, there should be independent assessment of outcomes. For example, sponsoring research may be problematic if such support comes with strings attached, such as suppressing or modifying unfavorable findings.”
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Wakefield and Dr. Busse reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.