Drugs and ATS T&C

Firstly, I would like to make the comment that I believe that the Terms & Conditions of ATS make for intelligent and sociable discourse between members and appears to keep the low brow riff-raff posters away from this site. We all know where these people hang out.

I do have a question though regarding the following subsection of this sites T & C



16e.) Illicit Activity: Discussion of illicit activities, specifically the use of mind-altering drugs & substances, engaging in computer hacking, promoting criminal hate, discussing sexual relations with minors, and furtherance of financial schemes and scams are strictly forbidden. You will also not link to sites or online content that contains discussion or advocacy of such material. Any Post mentioning or advocating personal use of illicit mind-altering drugs will result in immediate account termination.

i) Narcotics and illicit mind-altering substances: Due to abuse of the subject matter by some (promoting various aspects of personal use, and discussing actual personal use), no new topics on this subject are allowed in any form.


I am genuinely surprised that there is such a hard line taken with the discussion of 'mind altering drugs & substances', or even linking to another site that contains so called 'illicit' drug content. If we are to deny ignorance on this site then surely that includes the huge amount of ignorance around the use and abuse of legal and illegal drugs, the war on drugs, the social consequences of drug use and so on.

I would be confident in assuming that most members who post on this site have a fairly good holistic understanding of the hypocrisy surrounding drug laws and that one of the biggest conspiracies of all time is that of the prohibition of cannabis and hemp products.

With the amount of moderating on this site, why is it not possible to allow general discussions about drugs and drug use, and only censor threads where posters are actively trying to coerce others in to taking certain substances. How can we have posters bragging about alcohol abuse and it’s effects and not have an open discussion about a topic like medical marijuana?

The other obvious point I want to raise is when Item 16e refers to ‘illicit’, what does that mean exactly as each countries drug laws, and even state laws within countries, can differ.

Thanks, Peace Out

PS – I tried to search for other comments in this forum about this same issue, but came up empty. Apologies if this has been discussed ad nauseam.

reply to post by nimbinned


I have brought up these exact points before. My response was something along the lines of "ATS servers are located in the US therefore we follow US laws, and do not discuss the use of drugs illegal on a federal level"

It's pretty lame and annoying, but whatever.

Because every time there has been an attempt to have a discussion of drugs, it degenerates into their use, and areas that the higher ups don't allow. It may start out as an intelligent discussion, but it never stays that way. So it's just a whole lot easier to not allow it.

Mod Note: Terms & Conditions Of Use – Please Review This Link.

We are not saying you can't talk about these topics, just not here..

Closed

Semper

reply to post by paradox


That's only part of it. A very small part of it, at that.

When it's been attempted in the past, it degenerates, as Zaph stated, into use avocation, and experiences of the "other night"...

Sorry, but that's the plain truth of it.

ATS wants to be disseminated as widely as possible. Schools. Offices. Everywhere. Well... With the advent of "netnannies" in many places set to trigger on certain topics, with drugs being prominent among those topics, it's been decided that, for the foreseeable future, those sorts of conversations are simply not allowed.

We've tried on multiple occasions to do this, and it's been an unmittigated disaster every single time.

So...that's it in a nutshell.

reply to post by nimbinned


Just to clarify...
Pretty much sums it up.