I think BL is a great resource. I like the fact that there are a broad variety of people of different ages, cultures, expertise, and socio-economic backgrounds.
The number of redundant threads is a by-product of this age in which there is simply too much information around, and ironically, many people can't be bothered reading through it. There's a tendency for people to ask questions for which the answers could have been found in a minute or two.
As someone pointed out, there's this trend whereby some people start a new thread with a question which has been comprehensively covered, and it's obvious they haven't spent one second looking for the info themselves. What's worse is when they add: "Also, I need an answer in the next hour, because I'm going to a club", or "OK, I haven't read through the first 14 pages of this megathread, but I was wondering...."
Doesn't make a great impression.
For any new members reading this, I'd like to advise you to ask yourself a couple of things before posting a question or starting a thread:
-Have I searched Google and/or BL for the information I want? (Again, as someone pointed out, the BL search isn't great, but you can usually find the BL thread by just doing a google search)
-Is my question one that simply cannot be answered because it's of a subjective nature (ie. "Will I be OK if I take cocaine and LSD together?", or "How many days does it take to become addicted to Xanax?"). These questions only invite pointless and potentially dangerous speculation.
-Am I looking for an answer based on factual or anecdotal information, or am I really looking for validation from others because I'm nervous about taking this substance - and if members strongly advise against taking it, will I really follow that advice? Someone on the net saying that you'll "probably be fine" shouldn't make you feel better because it has no meaning at all. You can't pass off the risk and responsibility of drug use to another person.
I think the single biggest issue facing BlueLight as a whole is that some people equate their personal, subjective experience with facts. The best we can do is share information from our experiences, or from legitimate sources (ie. medical journals) and try to be objective. Far too often I see comments like: "10mg of diazepam won't do shit for you. You gotta take at least 40mg", or "Don't bother with <insert substance here>, it's crap", or "If you take cocaine, you'll be addicted for life. I've been on it for 30 years now. It'll ruin you."
All any member can offer, regardless of how much experience and knowledge they have, is their experience. Even if 100 people post with the same reaction to a substance, that's not a guarantee that's it's 100% safe for you. Use common sense. Read up on what you want to know about, look out for patterns in the comments to get an idea of what might be likely, and then make your own decision.
TL;DR: <some people seem to be allergic to posts over 20 words long, so here's a summary>
I think BL is great and is an extremely valuable source of info which has likely saved many lives. To avoid repetitive threads, people should do some solid reading on the substance they are interested in before posting. And finally - this is the big one - people must realise that it is IMPOSSIBLE to predict what effect any substance will have on any person at any time. People must do their research and then accept that there's always some risk involved and it is their responsibility to make the final decision.
