Why do I Delete Some Comments?

My frequent commentor is angry that I often delete his comments.  He asks:

The censorship on this site is a bit harsh. Instead of just deleting my posts, why not respond to them?

What do you see as the purpose of this site? Is it to prevent young people from trying drugs, users from coming off drugs, scaring parents into scaring their children into not trying drugs?

I do not allow comments to be posted on this site that support drug use.  When you say you’ve done Ecstasy for 10 years or whatever with no ill effect, I delete it because it promotes drug use.  Also, since I don’t know you, I can’t verify whether there are no ill effects or not.

I also do not post your comments that give statistics because I don’t run stats on this site; it’s not about stats, it’s about the tragedies behind the stats.  The degree of risk doesn’t matter if you’re dead or your child is dead. 

The purpose of this site is simple:  It runs news on drug tragedies so people have access to this information.  They might use it for their own purposes to resist peer pressure to use drugs.  They might use it to help their kids understand the possible consequences of drug use.  They might be drug counselors or teachers looking for examples to use in their work.

The site does not deal with “drug politics,” like legality, it doesn’t report drug stats and it certainly doesn’t report any stories that might tempt someone to try drugs. The reason is simple:  The focus here is sharp.

My Comment Policy in Action

My comment policy precludes including the entire comment I received from drug-user Dodgy, but his comments, edited below, underscore the purpose and content of this blog:

Unfortunately governments all over the world are unwilling to fund proper honest research into the long term effect of ecstasy, so until then many many users are taking a risk, but then when has any government really had it’s citizens intrests at heart.

When I do a Nexis search on Ecstasy, research papers do turn up regularly.  Brain chemistry is complex and research into long-term drug use take a long time to run.  Anyway, look at the fruits of research: Coffee causes cancer, no it doesn’t it’s good for you, no it’s awful for you, etc. 

Can we really expect science to give us the answers?  I don’t, which is why I focus on news stories of people’s lives, which are definitive.

I believe that everything about a drug, both good and bad should be available to anybody who is thinking of taking it, and then people can make up their own minds, based on honest information.

So do I, but I don’t have to be the source of both sides of this information.  As Dodgy is certainly aware, there are many more sites out there giving pro-drug and so-called “safe use” information than there are sites like these.  He’s free to go to those sites, this site, gather information, and make up his mind, and I am free not to promote a lifestyle I think is dangerous.

I’m glad he’s here and he’s gathering this side of the information spectrum.  I wish more drug users were doing the same. 

One of the reasons that goverment anti drug campaigns don’t work, is that they really arn’t credible with the people they’re aimed at. … Honesty will always be the best policy in terms of drug information.

Yes, honesty is the best course, which is why I focus on news stories of real events. This is why I found the Voice of the Victims films so powerful, because in them real people tell real stories of what really happened.

It’s also why I edited out the examples in Dodgy’s email (questionable research, the conflict between ecstasy users’ need for hydration and possible water poisoning from too much hydration, etc.).  While these examples might have been true (or partially true), they weren’t news stories of real events so I edited them. 

Comment Policy

I welcome comments of most kinds, but will not post comments that include wrong or dangerous information.

For example, I deleted a comment today that said no one ever dies from Ecstasy alone (not true; I am personally aware of several Ecstasy-only deaths, both from medical reactions and from driving), and that it can be safe to use if people know how to use it (not true; it can be safer, perhaps, but again, there are many people dead who prove that it is not always safe, even if it is used "well").

This blog is not about odds; it is about facts.  I will not allow comments posted that bend the facts and present false information that could lead someone to harm or death.