A question concerning the boards policy on alcohol (beer) in discussions

[jsn9333]

I recently posted a thread concerning both beer and marijuana. It was deleted by an admin. I would like to discuss the reasoning behind this policy in anyone is willing to.

I interpreted the rules to mean we can't discuss the abuse of alcohol. For instance, it says we can't discuss the abuse of pharmaceuticals. Those are "legal" drugs (but regulated of course) just like alcohol is "legal" (but regulated). How is it I can dicuss taking an oxycotin (if I wasn't abusing it, if it was prescribed and I was totally legal in taking and not abusing it), but I can't discuss having *a* beer legally? What is the reason for that policy, and can we (you, whoever is in charge here) re-think that one?

Beer is as part of America as Apple Pie. It is totally legal when not abused (when not given to minors, when not drunk so much of that drunken driving or some other drunken public nuisance occurs, etc.). So why not be able to talk about it... especially how it might interact with cannabis, etc. There is just no reason that I can think of (at least no good one) to disallow such talk. It's not like beer talk would "take over" the board... any more then apple pie talk has.

When I saw that my post was deleted, I seriously felt like the time I was posting on my Southern Baptist pastor's blog about cannabis, and he deleted it. I expect censorship from them though... I didn't expect it here.

To my pastor I say this: Cannabis is a plant... God made it. Please re-consider your views on censuring even just discussion about it.

To Cannabis.com I say this: Jesus made wine people. It is from a grape, and even occurs naturally sometimes in the right weather conditions. It is dangerous if abused, but it is a blessing if used correctly. Please change this policy.

jsn9333

P.S. -
I am assuming my post was deleted for violating the rules. I never got a message from the admin, the post was just deleted... I still didn't know why. When I searched around I found an "infraction" in my profile for other "drugs- alcohol- warning"... so I'm assuming I violated some rule...

[stinkyattic]

The other drugs rule covers all other drugs, legal or not. We don't discriminate when it comes to non-cannabis inebriants. This site is dedicated to medical marijuana, and posts about many legal psychoactives are regularly removed. In fact, I've seen posts about coffee vanish in a puff of steam.
Where prescribed oxycontin is concerned, and any other pharmaceuticals, that talk is VERY VERY closely watched by site staff to ensure that it is strictly limited to drug interaction issues and promotes safety for our members who suffer chronic pain and utilize both pharma and herbal approaches to pain management. It is also, as you may notice, confined to the medical section.

So please follow that guideline in choosing thread topics. I'm sure there are plenty of really nice forums on microbrewing etc. that will welcome beer discussions. That's their thing; cannabis is ours.

Thanks for understanding.

btw the argument for discussion of alcohol because it is mentioned in a religious text is not going to fly here. Remember, in some world religions, alcohol is actually seen as vile or sinful, and if you are going to argue it that way, I will counter with not imposing offensive religious beliefs on others via the site rules system, modified as you suggest it be, that would discriminate in favor of Western belief systems, but does not allow talk of other psychotropics used for aeons by tribal peoples on vison quests and the like.

[TheMetal1]

I'm in no position to speak on behalf of the website, but I found some links that might help.
http://boards.cannabis.com/cannabis-com-lounge/148152-messageboard-rules.html
(specifically Stinky's post #2) It talks about how talk of any substance, including alcohol, is now against site rules. Some old threads are still around, because they were created prior to the new rules. Other new posts probably have just not been reported or cleaned up yet.
Here's a good excerpt from a thread regarding the interaction between a certain pharmaceutical med and cannabis too.

It would have been better to start your own thread instead of digging up an old thread because when this thread was started, talk of other drugs was allowed. Now talk of other drugs is only allowed in certain cases, such as when you have a legal prescription for a pain killer and you want to know how it will be affected by marijuana.

I'm moving this thread to medical and keeping an eye out on it. Talk of use of pain killers for recreation will result in infractions and closure of this thread. Thanks.

Hope that helps! Oh, it is also a good thing to note that it is also against site rules to RESPOND to thread that violates the rules. Even if your reply states that the thread violates the rules, you are, in fact, in violation of the rules too. It's best to just click the report button if you see anything in inappropriate.
Stay :D and Keep :jointsmile:

Edit: Every freaking time... hahaha ^^^^ :jointsmile: We must have the same taste in questions to answer.

[stinkyattic]

lol... except in this case it's not taste; I've got no choice! :D
You've got a good point that I forgot to add, which is that you will often stumble upon old threads dating from a time when the site rules were very different. This site has not always been a med site; when it became that way, we tried to remove a lot of material that dealt with other substances, but some has obviously slipped through the cracks, so hitting 'report' on it helps to finish the job and will definitely help the medical orientation appear clearer to everyone who visits!

[jsn9333]

Thanks for the response. Although I'm not sure I feel I understand the reasoning behind the policy any better now.

If the website owners are going to truly limit this site to "medical cannabis", then they should police more thoroughly... because 90% of the posts in many of the forums have nothing to do with that topic. They either have to do with recreational uses of various things (music, TV, etc.) or recreational use of cannabis (i.e. "dude, I got totally baked hotboxing with my friends last night!"). Sure, some of the forums are all about medical use, growing, laws, etc., but many are not.

I guess I just expect more freedom of expression and less censorship here. It's almost like this site is the inverse of society... in society cannabis is "out of bounds" but alcohol is celebrated, here alcohol is "out of bounds" but cannabis is celebrated. In reality, both positions are illogical and hypocritical. This site should stand on the principle that *nothing* God made is out of bounds, everything just needs to be used responsibly.

I'm not saying we should be allowed to talk about wine for religious reasons. My point is simply that wine is even more accepted in this country (legally and religiously) then the prescribed drugs that this site *does* allow discussion of (with regards to interactions, etc.) In light of that, the fact that it is a violation to talk about the interaction of beer and cannabis is ridiculous. There are not many forums on the web where cannabis can be discussed with others so freely (where cannabis users gather so freely), so I wish this one were not so censuring. There just aren't many other places on the web where one can find others to discuss their cannabis/beer reactions and compare/contrast. I'm sure I'll find one, hopefully, but the fact that I even have to is disappointing.

I understand the rules, but I don't understand the reasoning behind the rules any more then "because that is what we want the rules to be." If the reason were, "we don't want to get shut down for talking about federally illegal *and* dangerous drugs, because as it is were pushing it with all this talk about cannabis", at least I would understand that reason. I would totally disagree with it (as a student of the law I know for a fact no website can be shut down for discussing illegal drugs), but at least I would understand it. The reason "because we say so" is just... frustratingly illogical and ridiculous.

That's my humble opinion. :jointsmile:

[stinkyattic]

Which you are, of course, entitled to. I understand that there is a strange line drawn in the sand here, but it's the best we can do.

I'll throw out there that the difference between cannabis-pharma interaction and cannabis-recreational interaction should be noted here in that a member living with a chronic illness has no choice but to utilize the tools available to him, whereas a member who enjoys recreational use of other substances, such as alcohol, DOES have the choice not to combine the two.

I see your point, too, about the site being an inverse of society, and in some ways, that is part of its charm. I hope you and other members don't feel TOO constricted, but I don't see the site owner deciding to allow more recreational/non-medical threads, and I see no reason to; I'm trying not to use the phrase 'give it up' but ehhh.... that's the nature of this site, and it actually runs quite smoothly in general. I agree, the hotboxing tents etc. threads are over the top in terms of obviously recreational content, and a lot of 'I'm SOOOOO high' threads get nuked within moments of appearing. There's definitely a push to minimize recreational posts and maximize educational ones, without creating a negative environment in the process.

I really hope that helps, and have a great weekend!

[TheMetal1]

If the website owners are going to truly limit this site to "medical cannabis", then they should police more thoroughly... because 90% of the posts in many of the forums have nothing to do with that topic.

I agree that many people abuse the forum to post many off topic threads, but I feel that the (volunteer! :thumbsup:) moderator staff takes care of the most "dangerous" threads as they encounter them. If they had maybe 2 hours without a problem to deal with, they might have time to address some of the older, questionable posts. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day. :jointsmile:


I guess I just expect more freedom of expression and less censorship here.

Well... again, I agree with you that everyone should be able to express themselves (in a perfect world ;)) BUT... I'm pretty sure that CannCom is privately owned, so even though it is based in the United States... its' owners have the right to set guidelines, and does not need to allow that complete freedom of expression to its' members. It's not a Democracy... it's CannCom. :jointsmile:
It's also totally free of charge, so if they want to say that we can't talk about a couple of things that aren't 100% cannabis related, I'm cool with that. I'm sure that once every post has no mention of other substances, or questionable behavior... more of those completely off topic "social" threads will disappear as well.

Also, if someone is TRULY concerned about the interactions between certain substances, I encourage you to ask your doctor. It is difficult for many to be honest with a physician, but it will most definitely effect how they design a treatment plan for whatever ailment requires the pharmaceutical.

Besides booze is the devil... haha just kidding.
Stay :D and definitely Keep :jointsmile:

[stinkyattic]

Cool, I'm glad we're on the same page. I think the idea of asking your doctor for a final word on interactions is a very good one, and with that, this thread is officially relegated to the archive of useful tidbits to use in your quest for better site rules understanding!