Visiting the online shrine for a drug forum's dead

[straightrazor]

The cybershrine for the dead begins with two photographs of the same smiling girl several years apart. The notation reads, “Kristin Marie, my sister.”

Under the picture, her life is time-stamped: 9-27-74 to 9-29-05. Kristen Marie had just turned 31 two days before she died. Her brother, the memorial’s pseudonymous author, then typed 13 more names, turning the post into an online tribute to the people he’s lost to drugs. He wrote:

“I believe the constant reminder of death may help others to either stop, or be more careful.”

For decades now, the Internet has brought drug users together from around the world to educate, celebrate, and commiserate about their shared experiences—from the beautiful to the horrible and the strange—with mind-altering drugs. Now in the age of Silk Road, the online black market that continues to make international headlines, that culture has stepped into the mainstream spotlight.

While the anonymity of the Deep Web has brought the business of drugs into clearer focus, it’s been communities like Bluelight.org, one of the oldest and most important drug discussion forums on the Web, that have served as cornerstones of the culture itself.

The pictures of Kristin Marie were posted in the Bluelight Shrine, a quiet but significant section of the site that serves as as a memorial to lost loved ones —a painful reminder of the needle and the damage done.

 

[kytnism]

we do hold tribute to those who are members of the bluelight community and consequently lose their lives as cause of personal ongoing drug treatment/abuse.

tributes (in bluelights "shrine") are hosted in memoriam and serve as a journal for members of the community who wish to express their personal feelings of love and loss for those whom are deceased.

the author of this article has made many unreputable claims (citing an apparent user named "negative" as a reputable source), and quoted song lyrics in their article in hopes it would hold ground in argument?

the whole "bluelight is responsible" arguement is exhausted. im sorry for your loss.

...kytnism...

 

[spacejunk]

Absolutely ghoulish article.
Sensationalist voyeurism of people's grief (and the most lurid examples they could find).
Sickening.
If anyone feels like writing to the writer, his email address is [email protected]

 

[ro4eva]

^ I agree with kytnism.

Bluelight's purpose is to save lives, not end them. But of course, we have our critics who despise our harm reduction philosophy because we encourage drug use? Actually, no, we don't. We simply understand that people will use drugs, regardless of the laws and consequences. And for that reason, the least we can do is minimize the associated risks, to the extent permitted by law. And for this reason, I feel we are doing the street drug using minority a lot more good when compared to the tactics typically employed by your local law enforcement.

We also do not allow sourcing here, nor discussion of prices.

I don't know how else to prove that we are not here to make matters worse.

Some people just don't get it. And never will, unfortunately.

 

[Si Dread]

I'm not certain there's an explicit accusation against Bluelight is there? Please cut it out, & I'll write to the person.

I found the article realistic albeit very sad

The greatest of Bluelight’s numerous virtues is education and harm reduction.

For decades, research about illegal drugs has been blocked and censored. The blackout on drug education, critics claim, has contributed to the death of countless ignorant drug users whose lives might have been saved with a little more knowledge.

There is no way that addition of information about drugs facilitates harm through drugs use. To say such a thing would be akin to suggesting that providing the information that seat belts should be worn facilitated car accidents.

 

[spacejunk]

There are hundreds of thousands of members of this site.
Many of whom engage in dangerous, life-threatening practices.
Yes, Bluelighters die - far too many -but I think the article overlooks how many positive outcomes exist as well (which given the vastness of the site, is not really surprising.

My problem wih the article is the detailed relaying of deaths through overdose, accidents, violence, misadventure - and that this is the focus of the article - digging up sorrows from years ago, treating the passing of our members - or people connected to the site - as the story, reprinting people's names and causes of death seems quite cold and callous in light of the sensitivities and respect most people tend to show when posting in the Shrine.

Re-reading it I can see that I may have overreacted somewhat in taking this article as a slur on the forum.
It is an "outsider's" point of view - and I suppose a valid one to some extent.

But I still don't like how they wrote it. Some details seemed unnecessary, and chosen for their horrible qualities.
Bluelight is not immune to criticism, nor is it perfect. But it is what we have come to as a global community, with near-global prohibition and social taboos around drug use.
How many drug fatalities occur because simple bluelight wisdom regarding safe/unsafe practices wasnt followed?
How many shrine threads do not contain details of the deceased's death being mentioned - yet this guy found a bunch of them, and lists them off in a way that seemed pretty sensationalist and morbid to me.
But I suppose that is how a lot of journalism works; the horrid details sells advertising, is click-bait or makes a headline that grabs
attention.
I can accept the way things are, but that doesn't mean I like the article or it's focus and approach. I suppose this is the sort of thing I am talking about;

For every piece of useful advice, there’s seemingly another casualty added to the shrine. Some memorials are just a few words, others are just long enough to paint a vivid, devastating picture: “Everything about her death (especially being set on fire) is the worse way for her to die. She was typically used by guys, and they didn’t give a shit about her. This is how she died, alone and used.”

Whenever someone writes about seeing a dead loved one soon, as a reader you can’t be sure whether to take it as a promise or a threat.

To me it paints an unrealistic picture of this online community - but as a part of it, i have my own bias as to what this place is about.
If someone wants to focus on the worst side of the many sides of bluelight, that is their choice...but I still think it is a cheap way of writing about this amazing site/forum/source of information.

 

[neversickanymore]

The greatest of Bluelight’s numerous virtues is education and harm reduction.

We certainly do have numerous virtues and amazing members.

 

[foolsgold]

wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this place and its users its saved my life once or twice of late

 

[cj]

I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for this community. I have found love and acceptance here when I couldn't find it anywhere else. This site is my Internet home.

 

[neversickanymore]

I would not be here either. Bluelight and it community have also made such a positive difference in my life I really fall short of words.

 

[Crankinit]

There's nowhere else on the internet I've ever found worth posting 5000 times.

 

[ro4eva]

To me it paints an unrealistic picture of this online community - but as a part of it, i have my own bias as to what this place is about.
If someone wants to focus on the worst side of the many sides of bluelight, that is their choice...but I still think it is a cheap way of writing about this amazing site/forum/source of information.

Brings to mind that old adage: "People will always remember the bad things you did, yet always forget the good things you've done."

And I firmly believe that Bluelight has been a lifesaver much more often than a means to a drug-related end of life. For countless people, it has provided a wealth of priceless information which has served to protect the needs of vulnerable drug users in relation to harm typically associated with various street drugs.

It was only due to Bluelight, that I learned of:

- PMA-adulterated ecstasy pills
- ecstasy testing kits
- MDMA-related water intoxication
- MDMA-related dehydration
- cocaine cut with levamisole
- heroin batches laced with fentanyl
- and much more vital information pertaining to MDMA, cocaine, and heroin, which are three of several drugs that I've used extensively

What I've never learned from Bluelight has been:

- the prices of various quantities of street drugs in my area, or anywhere else
- people/places/sources where I could/can obtain any type/kind of recreational drug

That should say something about Bluelight in general, which is that it's not a place to "hang out on" if you're looking to buy dope.

Looking back, I am so thankful and grateful that I accidentally stumbled upon BL back in late 2002, because without the information available pro bono on these forums, I'm just about positive that I would have passed away years ago.

So thank you Bluelight members for helping me and countless others to know how to minimize risks associated with our drugs of choice, and forgive me please if I was ever an asshole to any of you. Thanks again

 

[Folley]

Wow, "meth-lab explosions".. fucking really? Also, there isn't a single member here named Tioski. That's a DJ.



Bluelight has gone black, what.. twice now? Certainly not for anyone named "Negative".

For every piece of useful advice, there’s seemingly another casualty added to the shrine.

Bull. Fucking. Shit. There are 8,000 posts in the shrine, compared to nearly HALF A MILLION in Other Drugs alone. Complete and utter garbage.

 

[abracadabra girl]

Wow, "meth-lab explosions".. fucking really? Also, there isn't a single member here named Tioski. That's a DJ.



Bluelight has gone black, what.. twice now? Certainly not for anyone named "Negative".




Bull. Fucking. Shit. There are 8,000 posts in the shrine, compared to nearly HALF A MILLION in Other Drugs alone. Complete and utter garbage.

A couple seconds of research shows that "negative" was a highly respected member and BL did indeed go black for his death in 2006. The article even has a link to the archived version and you can also get the details in his shrine thread.

You're right about the numbers and the misstatement in the article though. He put "seemingly" in there to avoid getting sued but it was still a shitty way to write it.

http://www.bluelight.org/vb/threads/284448-RIP-Negative

http://web.archive.org/web/20130418121727/http://bluelight.ru/content/thad.php

 

[...]

Does anybody know anyone whose drug use has increased because of this forum?

 

[coelophysis]

Does anybody know anyone whose drug use has increased because of this forum?

I know that my interest in some drugs have been raised because of threads and information I read on here. Some drugs that maybe I would have never even heard of became something of interest that perhaps I sought out. Is that BL's fault when I take it? No, I don't believe so. A seeker is going to do just that, seek.

 

[subotai]

I said I wanted "September" by Earth Wind & Fire played at my funeral does that change the OP's opinion?

 

[coelophysis]

I couldn't even click the link to the thread. So much for NEMD getting proper publicity.

 

[subotai]

oh shit Mark Wahlberg is gonna star in the next Transformers movie

 

[plmar]

Does anybody know anyone whose drug use has increased because of this forum?

Interest in drugs has increased as Laika said, but not actual use no.