to "find" the scientists they need to spout the garbage they claim is legitimate. The name of the PR firm is APCO Associates. The tobacco companies hired APCO who, in turn, hired the "scientists" to debunk the facts around smoking and cancer.
Interestingly, that same PR firm is now the go-to firm for oil and gas companies who are fighting the truth about climate change and, lo and behold, the SAME scientists who tried to say smoking and cancer aren't related are the SAME scientists now claiming global change is a sham.
I have NO doubt the same firm APCO provided the "scientists" that are doing the same think regarding medical marijuana.
Here is a link to info on APCO and the tobacco firms:
http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/full/91/11/1749Here is a link to a documentary that shows the same "scientists' involved with the tobacco companies through APCO are now involved with the oil and gas companies:
THE DENIAL MACHINE
In the past few years, a hurricane has engulfed the debate about global warming. This scientific issue has become a rhetorical firestorm with science pitted against spin and inflammatory words on both sides.
snip
The Denial Machine investigates the roots of the campaign to negate the science and the threat of global warming. It tracks the activities of a group of scientists, some of whom previously consulted for for Big Tobacco, and who are now receiving donations from major coal and oil companies.
Who is keeping the debate of global warming alive?
The documentary shows how fossil fuel corporations have kept the global warming debate alive long after most scientists believed that global warming was real and had potentially catastrophic consequences. It shows that companies such as Exxon Mobil are working with top public relations firms and using many of the same tactics and personnel as those employed by Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds to dispute the cigarette-cancer link in the 1990s. Exxon Mobil sought out those willing to question the science behind climate change, providing funding for some of them, their organizations and their studies.
http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/denialmachine/index.htmlFor those interested in watching the documentary, you can watch it on line by using the link on the right hand side of the page.