Assess the following as probably , as probably , as requiring further documentation before judgment, or as a claim that cannot properly be evaluated. Consider both the nature of the claim and the source.
"Every day 5,000 Americans try cocaine for the first time-a total of 22 million so far-according to estimates by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. About five million people are believed to be using the drug at least once a month, and they are administering it to themselves in increasingly destructive ways."
-James Lieber, in the Atlantic

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is Requires further documentation. We don't know much about the National Institute on Drug Abuse, but we have found the Atlantic to be pretty reliable in factual matters. Notice that no exact figures are claimed; the first is explicitly said to be an estimate, and the phrases "about" and "believed to be" qualify the second. We would expect these claims to be close to the truth.

Assess the Following as Probably , as Probably , as Requiring