Crackdown on drugs at Hypography

Lately there have been a lot of threads and discussions about experimentation with drugs for obviously non-scientific reasons. The admins and moderators, and several concerned users, are taking steps to stop this trend.

First of all, we will be adding a clause to our rules:Click here to read the entire article

I actually don't see this as a problem. Anyone that doesn't like the way the rule is applied is free to rent their own server at a host of their choosing and park their own domain there and host all of these types of discussions that they like on their own terms. There is no Constitutional guarantee of free speech here and such discussions here will be on our terms!

Here, here!

we sit on the shoulders of giants.

I just wanted to note that the D.A.R.E. program of the united states has actually been shown in certain studies to be the probable cause of increased drug use.

Though I certainly support the moderators of Hypography in keeping discussions here at Hypography scientific and evidence supported; I hereby register my opposition to any "War on Drugs"-based politics. I hope that the phrase "drug abuse" could be more clearly defined and the term "drug" could perhaps be linked to the working definition used by the moderators here on Hypography.

Furthermore, I will note that I have participated in the past in the discussions involving controlled substances. Undue restriction of such topics would hamper my ability and willingness to participate on the forums. Towards the end of mutual understanding, I would encourage the Moderators to perhaps pick a notable example of acceptable discussion and contrast it to a notable example of unacceptable discussion, so we may better understand exactly what this policy fully entails.

I support responsible kids and adults on drugs.

Drug: "a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being."
Controlled Substance: "any of a category of behavior-altering or addictive drugs, as heroin or cocaine, whose possession and use are restricted by law."

Heck, man, how hard can it be?

Interesting to note that you support 'responsible' kids and adults on drugs.

If it's controlled, its controlled. End of story.

And though it may not be easily definable, its kinda like porn: You'll know it when you see it. And seeing as we don't want to soil the minds of the innocent and inquisitive kids who might join our discussions or lurk in the background, if you cross the line, we'll just have to open a can of whupass on your derierre.

As simple as that, really. And that's about it.

So wonder no more.

I'm just incredibly tired of the whole issue, and of explaining why we're doing what we're doing regarding this.

But judge it by the results: Go to any one of those free-flow anything-goes forums, and see if they can maintain any sort of a serious discussion beyond the first three posts, before the first idiot says how cool weed iz, an' trippin's da bomb, and all kinds of mindless crap. If free drug and trip discussion and the promotion thereof is your thing, then, well, Hypo is simply not the site you're looking for. And I don't think we're gonna change that. We've set a high standard, and we've spent a lot of time maintaining that standard. We're not going to bend on this particular one.

That's about the long and the tall of it, I guess.

Interestingly reactionary on your part Boe. I believe that had you read the entirety of my post while holding your judgments until the facts are in then you might have actually responded to what written.

Nowhere in my post did I say I support "free drug and trip discussion and the promotion thereof".

I did say that: "I support responsible kids and adults on drugs."

Right now, I am making use of a drug called "Ibuprofen" which is good for treating inflammation and is a non-steroidal pain killer. The context of the above use of the word drug refers only to the legal definition of a drug. That which prevents, treats, or cures a disease or enhances well being.

Colloquial use of the word drug differs widely from formal use. In policy and litigation formal use is preferred and a clear cut definition is a must. In the world of medicine and law it is important to distinguish between "drugs", "substances", and "controlled substances."

Coffee in this case is a substance like pie is also. Ibuprofen is a drug and non-controlled substance. Cannabis (Schedule I), Cocaine (Schedule I & Schedule II), Meth (Schedule I & Schedule II), and Heroin (schedule I & IV) are all controlled substances.

All I am asking for is that the moderators of Hypography draw the line clearly. I am unclear what any of you would consider "Drug Abuse" or even what any of you would consider a "drug" or an "illicit substance". I want to know the exact longitude and latitude of the boundaries created by this injunction. It is what I have come to expect of the intelligent people of Hypography: formal and well defined arguments with clear concise elements backed by collaborative empirical evidence.

Proud D.A.R.E. drop out, leading by example, and staying clean of bad substances.
-Ian (KAC)

To be on the safe side, you should refrain from posting about how jittery your caffeine buzz is, and how the stack of Aspirin is kicking that back pain in the ass!


If you want to get Baked or Trip out, thats up to your voluntary discretion; but basically the point is to stop creating threads about it, and discuss any medical or social concerns in the threads already created...

So you're arguing that unless a rule can be defined explicitly without room for discretion that it is invalid? Are you arguing in favor of the "LawN'Order Republicans" up the road in Oroville that there should be no judicial discretion on sentences for drug possession?

Being able to find limits in our rules as currently stated is an intelligence test: "Inconsistency is the hobgoblin of little minds."

The upside of this is that if you're slightly over the line, you'll get a private warning to move back inside the yellow line. That's *much* better than getting banned for an inadvertent use of the word "weed," don'tcha think?

But really, the question here KAC is why did you even bother to ask? There's obviously another shoe left to drop and maybe you should expose it, because I get the feeling from your careful wording its likely to be a much bigger issue than simply "I can't figure out what I mayn't talk about."

And of course you *could* ask one of us in a PM: that would be the *polite* thing to do!

Civility sometimes requires polite ruthlessness,
Buffy

For the record:

The "no pro-drugs discussion" line is agreed upon by the moderators, regardless of our personal views on drugs. It is simply because we - as a team - do not have the time, nor resources - to constantly monitor our boards for irresponsible drug talk. There was a period when this was a problem here at Hypo. The crackdown ended it.

There is no clear line. If you think you're crossing it, ask any moderator before you post. If you *know* you are crossing it, don't post. If you *want* to cross it, our rules allow the moderators to cancel your membership. It's, as always, up to you.

I disagree with this stance on drug discussions, while it is important for people to realize that drug use is always harmful on some level that applies to both legal and illegal drugs. About twenty years ago a study was done and it concluded that for every person who dies from the direct result of illegal drug use about one thousand die from the effects of legal drugs. I agree that glorified stories of drug use should not be on this list, or any other for that matter since most of these stories are lies or at least boasting by people looking for attention or some one who has an axe to grind.
Drug use is usually done to as a form of escape from the daily grind that is much easier and less costly than say a ski trip or some other form of entertainment. That doesn't make it necessarily ok, it's just that not every has the time or the means to have the sort of good clean fun that is approved of. For myself I am an adrenaline junky. I love to get that feeling that I have just cheated death. Nothing is better than that high and I get it by riding motorcycles fast and hard. From the perspective of danger to others I am a far greater threat than some stoner sitting in his living room trying to figure out how to make hash brownies taste better. Possibly there should be a part of this forum that only adults can see and reply to. There are exclusive forums already. It wouldn't hard to make one more. Making it so that discussion of drug use is forbidden is just censure ship. What is next? No discussion of sex? Censure ship is always a double edged sword and is often used as a weapon against those we don't approve of. As an example cannabis became illegal not because it was killing people or harming anyone. It was thought at the time that mostly Mexican immigrants used pot and the start of the ban on C. sativa was an excuse to harass and deport illegal Mexicans in the south west. From that small beginning it grew into the monster the war on drugs is today. So many people have had their rights stripped from them, put away in jail cells to rot just because their idea of fun wasn't climbing a rock face with no safety lines, roaring down the side of a mountain in the snow, or some other form of recreation they cannot afford or have no interest in. That's why they call them recreational drugs.
Yes they are dangerous, living is dangerous, everyone should have the right to decide the amount of danger they are willing to risk. If someone dies while doing something dangerous like scuba, nascar racing or some other dangerous but approved way of having fun it's so sad but if you die from a drug overdose everyone thinks he got what he deserved.
Let's go slow on anything that resembles censure ship, you don't cut off your nose to spite you face. Discussion of drug use that doesn't have a bad ending is frowned on everywhere but drinking tales are often glorified even though more people die from the effects of alcohol than any illegal drug!

Michael