Corrections Policy
The obligation
Every publication makes errors. What separates a serious one from the rest is what happens next. At TIMES OF CANNABIS the rule is that the record gets repaired visibly, quickly, and without grudge, because a reader who catches us in an uncorrected error has learned something about every other article we publish. In a subject where readers act on legal and medical information, that standard is not a courtesy; it is the job.
Three labels, three meanings
We use three distinct labels, and we do not blur them.
Correction
A correction repairs a factual error: a wrong number, a misquoted bill, a misattributed statement, a misstated study result. The corrected article carries a note stating what was wrong and what is right. We do not silently rewrite the sentence and hope nobody kept a copy. The note stays on the article permanently.
Clarification
A clarification addresses wording that was technically accurate but capable of misleading, which in cannabis coverage happens most often around legal nuance: a statute passed but not yet in force, a program approved but not yet operating, a ruling that binds one jurisdiction and not its neighbors. When precision failed even though the facts did not, we say so with a clarification note.
Update
An update reflects that the world moved after publication: a bill was amended, a license was granted, a company withdrew a statement, a study was retracted. Updates are dated and appended. An article that was accurate when published does not receive a correction for having been published before events changed; it receives an update so that a later reader is not misled by an accurate history.
How to report an error
Write to support@timesofcannabis.com with the subject line CORRECTION. Include the link to the article, the exact passage you dispute, and the basis for the dispute. The strongest correction requests point to a primary source: the text of the legislation, the company filing, the published paper. We read every report, including the ones that turn out to be wrong about us being wrong, and we reply either way.
What happens to a report
- A member of the editorial team reviews the claim against the sources used in the story and any new source supplied.
- If we erred, we correct the article, append the note, and, where the error traveled through our social or syndication channels, correct it there too.
- If the error was significant, we look for how it got past our fact-checking process and adjust the process, not just the article.
- If we conclude the article was right, we explain why, with the sources.
Straightforward factual errors are usually corrected within one business day of being verified. Disputes that require going back to primary documents can take longer, and we prefer slow and right over fast and wrong, in corrections as in reporting.
Errors we treat as urgent
Some categories jump the queue because acting on the error could harm a reader: misstatements of the legal status of cannabis in a jurisdiction, errors in reporting medical research findings, errors about product safety issues or recalls, and misidentification of any person or company. These are reviewed the moment they are seen.
What we do not do
- We do not unpublish accurate reporting because a company or individual finds it inconvenient. Removal is reserved for the rare case where the law requires it or where an article is wrong beyond repair, and in the latter case a note records that an article existed and why it was withdrawn.
- We do not accept payment, advertising, or the promise of either to alter the record. The wall described in our ownership and funding page applies with full force here.
- We do not punish the reporter who surfaces their own error. A newsroom that punishes honesty purchases silence.
The standing invitation
If you see an error, tell us. You will not be argued with for sport, and if you are right, the record will show it. That is the whole policy, and we consider it the cheapest credibility a publication can buy.
