Alcohol Forum? - Split from Heads Up thread

[Blowmonkey]

Btw, if, according to you, the main problem is that it's not completely clear where alcohol related (harm reduction) discussion should take place, then how about adding it in the forum description of OD..? I suggested a change in the description not so long ago, it could read something along the lines of; "Discussion of other drugs including downers, stimulants, pharmaceuticals and alcohol".

 

[Johnny1]

Tell me, which of the focus drug forums welcome a topic solely on alcohol?
...
In fact, im a little shocked at all of you objectors and nay-sayers. I mean, you welcome forums such as "video gaming" or "sports and leisure" with open arms, but the second a forum is suggested that might actually tie into our mission statement, all of a sudden its "oh noes! that wont do at all!"

I think I'm being elitist in my feelings towards alcohol, and this is clouding my judgment. I love the taste of good drinks, but they make me sick, so I don't drink very often. I do drink a single beer a couple times a week. But generally I see alcohol as an ugly drug that people use to throw a deadening blanket over their lives. But the same could be said by someone else of my own drug use (mostly weed), and I don't think I have the right to judge.

Thanks for making me think about this, KB. I retract my statement against an alcohol forum.

 

[felix]

SWIM recently signed up to another drugs site which has an alcohol forum (I've just noticed ) - so for an idea of the type of threads that might appear, click here, using your mouse:

http://www.drugs-forum.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=18

 

[~*geNeRaTiOn E*~]

wow, they have a forum for pretty much everything, even legal XTC haha

when i first saw the title i thought it would be pointless since alcohol would fall under OD. people have brought up valid points but i don't think a forum would provide any great benefit and i'm with the crowd that's had a majorly impacted life because of alcohol.

 

[Beatlebot]

*bump*

 

[guineaPig]

huh, i think some of you underestimate the amount of discussion that can be genertated by alcohol.
my gripes are the following
1 - a booze forum would be a huuuuge clusterfuck of drunks to centralize in and that may not always be a good idea...
2- i agree that ppl look down on alcohol here as if it is a lesser drug. how many ppl have blacked out and when they came to, there were in cuffs? i dont see that as being something to pass off because at a certain point, you are capable of nearly anything. driving included.

who knows. i dont totally give a shit. it'd be cool but for now i'll just post w/horrible spelling when im totally trashed and relate my experiences of waking up in strange places in journal :D

 

[pennywise]

maybe just for a change of pace we can start a thread that wants to eliminate and existing forum rather than create a new one.

 

[KemicalBurn]

This argument keeps being rehashed everytime someone suggests a forum. It's not valid in my opinion. The topics about alcohol don't get "lost", there simply are too little people discussing or asking questions about this. Before we had CD there were plenty (and I mean PLENTY) of cannabis topics. The main problem was that they were littering PD and OD, hence the creation of a new forum, to give the topics a place. It should not be the other way around IMO.

Are you saying your forum hasnt evolved over the years? The level of discussion and style of threads has been the same, all this time?

I think you'll find (if you can remember far enough back), that the style of threads and questions you're getting arent the same as when CD was first created. Of course you get your "re-occuring" threads, but because CD was created, new and higher levels of discussion could be fostered.


You should know better than anyone else here that if you want the tree to grow, you're gonna first have to plant it in the ground.

I don't think you've quite understood the focus of cannabis discussion. We don't allow (any kind of) social threads, they get shifted over to DC, or have you forgotten that? This is the same with all the other focus and drug forums, social drug discussion takes place in DC. If an alcohol discussion forum will ever be created I don't think it would be logical to allow social discussion in there, it would completely defeat the purpose of DC.

I think i might know when a thread is harm reducing, and when its more on the social side.

Here's a list of threads i've found just on your first page that dont involve reducing harm, but are still very niche to a cannabis forum:

pot or not
i Would like to issue a challenge
test grow orange buds
Hookah and pot
growing and lighting arrays

I could go on (and on).

My point? No one is going to hurt themselves or die in any of the senarios those threads depict, yet they are the sort of dicsussion that could only be generated by the presence of a Cannabis forum.

And the purpose of Drug Culture is not defeated by the Cannabis forum, now is it?

Btw, if, according to you, the main problem is that it's not completely clear where alcohol related (harm reduction) discussion should take place, then how about adding it in the forum description of OD..? I suggested a change in the description not so long ago, it could read something along the lines of; "Discussion of other drugs including downers, stimulants, pharmaceuticals and alcohol".

While i agree that opiate abuse does somewhat go hand-in-hand with alcohol abuse, the reverse isnt true. So i still feel they should be tackled seperately.

 

[Blowmonkey]

I think you'll find (if you can remember far enough back), that the style of threads and questions you're getting arent the same as when CD was first created.

Not exactly. It's still pretty much the same.

Of course you get your "re-occuring" threads, but because CD was created, new and higher levels of discussion could be fostered.

True to a point. The only thing that really has changed is that we now regularly have growing questions. For the rest nothing substantial has changed if you ask me.

I think i might know when a thread is harm reducing, and when its more on the social side.

Here's a list of threads i've found just on your first page that dont involve reducing harm, but are still very niche to a cannabis forum:

pot or not
i Would like to issue a challenge
test grow orange buds
Hookah and pot
growing and lighting arrays

Then we have a different interpretation of "social threads", I don't really view them as social threads, but I do understand your previous point a little better now.

My point? No one is going to hurt themselves or die in any of the senarios those threads depict, yet they are the sort of dicsussion that could only be generated by the presence of a Cannabis forum.

So what kind of discussion; that cannot be held in existing forums, can only take place in an alcohol forum?

While i agree that opiate abuse does somewhat go hand-in-hand with alcohol abuse, the reverse isnt true. So i still feel they should be tackled seperately.

OD stands for "other drugs", the other drugs that don't fit into the other categories. I don't see how opiate and alcohol abuse has anything to do with the matter. It's also not a strong enough argument, you could say the same for a lot of things.

My main point of concern simply is that we shouldn't start creating forums just for the sake of creating forums. Create a forum when there is adequate demand. Not the other way around.

 

[frizzantik]

the thing about alcohol (or tobacco for that matter) is there is no lack of information available out there on how to reduce the harm related to alcohol. Legal drugs are pretty much the only drugs that society accepts can be used responsibly. Many in society however feel that other drug use can only be abuse, and thus there is significantly fewer HR related efforts and general information available.. this is where BL comes in

How could you honestly think it's better idea to spread alcohol all over the board then give it its own focus forum?

When the last drug focus forum was created, that was precisely the case. There was a lot of pot related threads being spread out across many forums, with no clear place for the discussion to go. It made sense since there was a lot of discussion to make a new forum.

I've not looked for it, but in my time on the site i've never really noticed a significant amount of alcohol related posts in the drug forums. almost all alcohol related discussion on the site isn't really harm reduction oriented. Thats not to say a focus forum only has to be about harm reduction, but that should be its primary goal.

I recommend that if anyone has harm reduction questions related to alcohol, start posting them.. this is the best way to prove there is a demand for the forum

 

[Diego Blunt]

good idea ... but ...

the thing about alcohol (or tobacco for that matter) is there is no lack of information available out there on how to reduce the harm related to alcohol. Legal drugs are pretty much the only drugs that society accepts can be used responsibly. Many in society however feel that other drug use can only be abuse, and thus there is significantly fewer HR related efforts and general information available.. this is where BL comes in.

(fotosearch)

 

[tambourine-man]

^
@frizz: That's pretty much what I wanted to say on the subject... only you did it in a much more concise way. You gotta seperate the political motives from the site's mission. It'd be nice to take a stand and treat alcohol and any other substances with the same level of respect and attention, but there's a wealth of other resources out there that already adequately support alcohol abusers and carry alcohol-related info.

There's no point re-inventing the wheel for the sake of comprehensiveness.

 

[panic in paradise]

i think an alcohol forum would be great, and so would forums for stimulants, and opiates, which would be pushed if an alcohol one came to be.

i agree with frizzantic as well, there is a lot of dangerous ignorance and a nieveness towards alcohol in people that is avoidable, and there are many other people who have had their lives shook by it as a few mentioned. and thats what BL's for.

a forum for alcohol would have a very broad theme of topics that could be a lot of fun, but also be really personal to people because of family issues involving it, then there are some who say alcoholism is unreal. a forum like that would need at lot of attention until it became stabilized, and at the same time the stimulant, and opiates forums would be getting pressed.

 

[Oswald]

fuck you azl blaze alcohol is the shit for the win google yahoo

 

[chopped_chimp]

When people think of alcoholism they generally think of someone that needs to drink every day and is basically a social nightmare.

Thats not the case.

Alcoholics take many different forms that most of us aren't aware of. Yes there are PLENTY of different avenues for people to go down to get information on alcohol. However most people do not think they have a problem and will not specifically look for one of these websites. Bluelight definitely has a niche market - drug users. It would not be hypocritical to assume that most of us use alcohol and a significant portion WILL have a problem with it. It is far more likely that a Bluelighter will trip over some relevant information in regards to their habits if there was forum dedicated to it. I have many questions I'd like to discuss regarding my usage.

Hey, we can keep sweeping this issue under the carpet and pretending that we're all responsible if you like. However, in the interests of harm reduction I think a more proactive approach is called for.

In most instances, alcohol and drugs are used hand in hand. In a lot of instances, drinking alcohol will lead to irresponsible drug use.

Try the forum. You can always pull it if it doesn't produce results.

 

[lurkerguy]

I like to get drunk!

 

[Oswald]

Lawlzorz Rofflez Lamowz

 

[Blowmonkey]

I have many questions I'd like to discuss regarding my usage.

So what's stopping you? The lack of an alcohol forum? You can already start topics regarding alcohol in the existing forums.

 

[chopped_chimp]

Good point. I guess it's only after reading this thread that the idea came into my head. A good example of generating discussion.

 

[KemicalBurn]

When the last drug focus forum was created, that was precisely the case. There was a lot of pot related threads being spread out across many forums, with no clear place for the discussion to go. It made sense since there was a lot of discussion to make a new forum.

The last focus forum to be created wasn't CD, but Steroid Discussion. I dont recall being inundated with threads about roids, or remember seeing them in the HR drug forums before the forum was created. A home was given to a neglected sector of drug use, there were quite a few objectors (myself included), as it doesnt fit in quite as well in with the mission statement as the other forums, or the now proposed Alcohol forum. But there it is, and whether i like it or not, that forum helps people not hurt themselves.

I've not looked for it, but in my time on the site i've never really noticed a significant amount of alcohol related posts in the drug forums. almost all alcohol related discussion on the site isn't really harm reduction oriented. Thats not to say a focus forum only has to be about harm reduction, but that should be its primary goal.

And im not saying that it should be anything but.

Take the "lighting array" discussion thread in CD. Its "alcohol" counterpart would probably be along the same lines as brewing your own beer or having a home distillery.

Now, not much can go wrong with growing weed (your plants may die, but over all, the set-up of your plants isnt going to harm or kill you).

With making your own alcohol at home (which is a legal practise) a number of things can go wrong. Things can blow up, the alcohol you made can even make you blind if youve seriously done wrong!

A forum where one could discuss this could help people. A discussion like this couldnt be held in another forum, but that doesnt mean we cant change that.