If you don't know, don't say, or at least take the time to look it up yourself!

Bluelight is designed to be a place where people can share information not otherwise readily available, but too often it is, rightly, dismissed by many as being a place where rumours and half-truths are passed off as "facts".
This thread is what I'm talking about; too many people offering half-remembered, half made up intepretations.
I'm not asking people not to share. I'm just asking everyone to take the time to check your information if there is any doubt in your mind that you might not have all the facts straight.
Even if you are reasonably sure, if you are taking the energy to write a reply post you should also have the tme and patience to go to erowid, or where ever, and have a scan of the source info yourself. Not only will you confirm that your interpretation is correct, you will find other valuable bits of info that you might otherwise have forgotten about.
I can guarentee you that the majority of the good, reliable posters here, the Big Trancers, , the pingers, the phase_dancers, the Biscuits, will consistently have a look at the source info before replying, and if they don't will at least give a caveat that they aren't sure. This is why they are the reliable ones, and the ones we all trust.
Unfortunately I think many people are too eager to post, to see their name in a reply, when by simply not posting, and waiting for someone who really knows to answer, or preferably to spend the time going off and actually researching the topic, the thread will be less confusing.

^ Exactly!
I see no need in giving unresearched/not double checked advice I'm not sure is entirely correct, especially when it could lead to someone's health being harmed.
There's just no point in trying to advise someone, on subjects like these, with hearsay
[ 25 March 2002: Message edited by: Mirage ]
EDIT: i meant not double checked.. heh, oops
[ 26 March 2002: Message edited by: Mirage ]

This is a fucking serious post. Misinformation is WORSE than no information.
Bluelight is trying to help people by providing good quality, factual information. We all need to make sure that the things we post as being true have reference to factual information. Failing to reference things that you assert as fact undermines your credibility and the authority of Bluelight information as a whole.
BigTrancer.

Further to what JB said - do your research, but if it's an obscure topic and you can't find anything but still comment make sure you use one of the following terms (or something similar):
I think...
In my opinion...
This may be just a rumour, but...
I'm not saying that this is a substitute for research, but by doing that it will probably encourage someone else to maybe go and check your facts out. And more importantly, you're guess won't be read as fact and if it does happen to be wrong it can be taken with a grain of salt. If anyone believes blindly that something someone states as an opinion is true then that's their own fault. We're trying to stamp out people posting guesses as facts.
But yeah, once again, this is no substitute for research, just a last resort...

great point BT.
misinformation is often much worse than no information. drug discussion is important, it's not social!

I'm sorry BT, i'm using the drunks defence, damn tuesday happy hours! Forgot that drug discussion must remain entirely on topic.... sorry, it will not happen again. BigTrancer you da man!

Sifu: The problem wasn't the sarcastic light humour... it was that this was one of the few "please follow instructions" threads that have been created where a mod or admin has requested something of the posters.
I did, by the way, delete all off topic replies, and didn't direct my post at anyone in particular. There's no need for apologies, I just wanted this thread in particular to have a clear point.
It's not often that johnboy or the other moderators create a thread specifically to ask people to follow a particular guideline, so when it does occur, I'd like to know that the message doesn't get lost in the banter.
Humour is welcomed in Drug Discussion - as long as it's vaguely relevant. We all need a laugh sometimes.
BigTrancer

and now we are off topic again.
tabernacle: i'm sick of hearing your "sorry i was drunk" excuse. think up a new one or maybe just shut the fuck up...

Damn good thread. Another useful prefix people may like to use is "in my experience" to highlight when a comment is just that - purely personal experience.

"... but, where can I look this stuff up? I'm looking to confirm a rumour I heard and the web searches just bring up bullshit pages of drug myths that I KNOW are crap ..."
My suggestions:

• Australia/Asia/NZ/Middle East Drug Discussion Forum Guidelines & Mini-FAQ
• Australia/Asia/NZ/Middle East Drug Discussion Forum 'Main FAQ'
• Search Bluelight.
• The Vaults of Erowid
• Leda - Lycaeum Entheogen Database
• MDMA FAQ at drogeninfo.de
• Nicholas Saunders' Ecstacy.org
• Alexander Shulgin's PiHKAL and TiHKAL online
• Bluelight.nu's pillreports.com
• DanceSafe

BigTrancer

Here here. Bluelight is about information. If you want to spin shit or spread misinformation there are plenty of munted randoms that would love to hear what you've got to say at the next gig.
If you were asking a question would you want factual researched answers or some quasi-urban legend bullshit?
That g thread was so full of shit, the answer is accessible in erowid in 20 seconds.

thats as far as my simple knowledge on the drug goes... don't care to read about it on erowid because i don't care to _ever_ take the drug. no ghb no problems....
I think that sums it up.

Click to expand...

This is a timely reminder to everyone in this forum...
If you can't back up your claims with some documentation, or at least some personal experience, then all you are doing is helping the spread of misinformation.
So know what you are saying, or STFU!@!@$%@

*bump*
I think this is an issue which needs redressing. We always need to try and ensure the information we're supplying is accurate and can be referenced to authoritative sources where the facts are not common knowledge.
Another thing I'd like to mention is a vote of thanks to the people who help to look for answers to the questions asked here, even if they're not sure. Seeing stuff like "I'm not sure if this helps, but I did a quick search of this site I remembered that might be relevant and came up with the following..." lets people know that others are trying to help them, and also sets a good example to not wait for the information to be served up to you on a silver platter.
"If you don't know, don't say, or at least take the time to look it up yourself" isn't an attempt to discourage people from helping to answer questions, quite the opposite. It's an encouragement to search more, and educate yourself. We just need to make absolutely clear whether information is factual (by providing online or literature references), or something vaguely remembered or read somewhere or 'told to me by my mate/gf/dealer/etc' (by using appropriate disclaimers)...
Thanks for reading.
BigTrancer

...and again needs a bit o' a bizump.

*BUMP* This serious issue is being forgotten by a lot of people.

PLEASE reference your facts - if you want to assert something as being truthful, at least check with an authoritative source of information that it IS a fact. Shit like "i was told" or "my dealer said" or "i read on the net somewhere" just won't wash.

BigTrancer.

If people looked stuff up it wouldn't give others the chance to get a fat over telling them they are wrong.

I think, if it wasn't so potentially dangerous, some of these "my dd reckons" theories are really funny.

There are ways to work them into the post. If you're totally clear which part is just hearsay then by all means tell what your drug dealer reckons. There's always the chance that he could be right.

However that said, you should also check around and do a bit of research to either support the claim, or to refute it (thereby making the dealers comments purely for entertainment value)...

As long as you explicitly state which parts are researched and which parts aren't, you should be OK. In the end it all comes down to common sense, and whether or not anyone could mistakenly take fiction for fact.