Fact-Checking Policy
The problem this policy solves
Cannabis information online is unusually polluted. Strain descriptions are copied between vendor sites until nobody remembers where they started, potency figures circulate without the lab report behind them, and study findings arrive at readers third hand, stripped of their sample sizes and caveats. CBD STRAINS ONLY deals with this the only way that works: by checking claims against primary evidence before publishing them. This page is the method.
The source hierarchy
Every checkable claim is verified against the best available source, in this order:
- Certificates of analysis. For any potency, cannabinoid, terpene, or purity claim, the standard of proof is a certificate of analysis from a third party testing laboratory. We check that the COA is genuine and traceable to the issuing lab, that it corresponds to the product and batch in question, and that our text reports what it actually says, including ranges rather than single flattering numbers. A potency claim with no COA behind it is presented as a claim, attributed to whoever made it, or it is not presented at all.
- Breeder and seed bank records. For strain lineage, the primary sources are the breeder’s own published records and established seed bank documentation. Strain naming is chronically unreliable: the same name attaches to different genetics in different markets, and origin stories mutate in the retelling. Where records conflict, we say the lineage is disputed and present the versions with their sources, rather than laundering one version into fact.
- Peer reviewed research. Any statement about what a study found is verified against the study itself, not a press release, a news rewrite, or another site’s summary. The checker reads at minimum the abstract, methods overview, and results, and confirms our text preserves the essentials: what was studied, in whom or in what, at what scale, and with which limitations. A cell culture finding is not reported as a human outcome; a single small trial is not reported as settled science.
- Official legal sources. Statements about legal status are checked against government publications, current at the time of writing and dated in the text, since the law moves under us. Our Disclaimer explains why readers must still verify locally.
The process
Before publication, a factual pass is made over every article by someone other than its principal writer. The checker works claim by claim: each number, each lineage statement, each study characterization, each legal status note must have its source located and read, not remembered. Claims that fail the check are fixed, attributed, hedged to match their actual support, or cut. High risk material, meaning anything touching health effects, drug interactions, or legality, gets the strictest reading, and where the honest answer is that the evidence is preliminary or mixed, the article says exactly that. We treat calibrated uncertainty as a feature of accurate writing, not a weakness of it.
Language rules that follow from the evidence
Some wording rules are enforced because they keep articles inside their evidence. Effects descriptions are framed as typical or reported, never as universal promises. The word proven is reserved for things that are. Percentages carry their context: a tested range, a specific batch, a labeled claim. Medical conditions are never paired with treatment language that the research cannot carry, and no article implies a product or strain will produce a specific outcome for a specific reader.
When checking fails anyway
No process catches everything. When an error reaches publication, the Corrections Policy takes over: the error is fixed visibly, labeled, and dated, with priority handling for safety relevant and legal status errors. Recurring error types trigger a review of this process itself, because a fact checking policy that never updates is just a museum piece.
Help us check
Readers, breeders, labs, and researchers who spot an unsupported or wrong claim are our unpaid quality department, and we mean that as an invitation. Email support@cbdstrainsonly.com with the URL, the claim, and your evidence. A COA, a breeder record, or a primary study attached to your message is the fastest route to a fix. Our standards for evaluating what you send are exactly the standards above, applied without regard to who the sender is, per our Editorial Standards.
