In the described cannabis frequency study, is it acceptable to invite only students who have already used cannabis and not collect socio-demographic data to identify Indigenous participants?

• A. Acceptable
• B. Not acceptable
• C. Acceptable only if anonymized
• D. Acceptable only with parental consent

Answer: (B)

Recruitment needs to be fair and inclusive, and sensitive data must be handled with proper consent and governance. Inviting only students who have already used cannabis creates a biased sample because it excludes non-users, which distorts frequency estimates and undermines the study’s ability to reflect the broader student population. That kind of selective recruitment raises ethical and methodological concerns about fairness and accuracy.

At the same time, attempting to identify Indigenous participants by not collecting socio-demographic information, or by handling such data without appropriate governance, raises serious privacy and sovereignty issues. Indigenous data are subject to special considerations and governance expectations (such as respecting participants’ autonomy and community engagement) to ensure culturally safe research and proper oversight. Without collecting and handling demographic information in a privacy-respecting, consent-based way, the study cannot adequately address representation, protections, or appropriate analysis of Indigenous participants.

Taken together, this approach is not acceptable because it compromises both the validity of the findings and the ethical obligations to fair recruitment and responsible data governance.