My point isn't that we should "filter" the question. It's that the author, by posing this ideologically loaded question and addressing it in no quantitative way

My point isn't that we should "filter" the question. It's that the author, by posing this ideologically loaded question and addressing it in no quantitative way nor addressing why it is a question of import regarding this policy is either being naive or intellectually dishonest. If I'm writing a piece about the merits of almonds upon your diet and my findings are that almonds are good for you in every way but at the outset of my article pose the question, can we really continue to consume a substance from which deadly cyanide can be derived? Then my intent is clearly a rhetorical flourish to lend a false counterpoint to my narrative. The science establishing almonds as safe to eat is so overwhelming that raising this false doubt, even temporarily in the minds of my readers is irresponsible. If you genuinely wish to know the objective factors that contribute to addiction, I'm all for it. Shit, I'll pay taxes to help you get that information because I agree it's important. But if you wish to use worn out cliches in order to make your writing seem more even handed and thus bolster the arguments of those not interested in objective knowledge but interested in advancing their own morals via public policy then I will call you out.