Should we have a cannabis board?

EvilGeorge

Sorry I wasn't thinking with a clear head the Atari jaguar caught my eye !

bonkey

Originally posted by Saruman
Thats probably true Bonkey.. still a grey area though.. is there any way boards could be held accountable if someone DID post a brochure and where to buy drugs?

It depends on the local (Irish) laws, which I'm not up on.

However, you'd generally find that agreeing to co-operation with the legal authorities (should the need arise) would almost be a "pre-requisite" for setting up the board, and that agreement to this would be included in the Ts & Cs you'd have to agree to in order to be given post-access.

In other words...for me to be able to post on the board, I would have to agree (for example) to allow Overfiend deVore give up my IP address and posting details to the cops should they ever have just cause to request it based on my activity on the board.

Not perfect, I know, but its the best way of covering your ass that I can see. Take the onus off boards.ie and put it back on the posters.

jc

tHE vAGGABOND

end of the day - if you support it or not - its illegal..

if you want to provide a forum for drug dealers then go ahead, I would be against it myself...

Ser

yeh illegal there still, theres a kewl cannibis march/festifal thing going on in the park next to my house (i can see it from the window!) is a kewl day, this saturday will be hot too, is paked with people sellin good skunk. cant beat a good hot day on Brockwell park with a skunk spliff:>

the law on it is so relaxed now around brixton area, so many shops sell it here,wont be long now till they spread it all over london i think, all the police i have spoken to want it to happen. end of the day it wont be hurtin anyone, and can stop the street dealin and control it better.

all for it

Hobbes

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
end of the day - if you support it or not - its illegal..

if you want to provide a forum for drug dealers then go ahead, I would be against it myself...

I'm with Vagga on this. Regardless of how you think about it, it is currently illegal so I think at worst case you shouldn't name the board as such or just made a medical board which allows such posts in a legal sense.

I mean what's going to be on the board? How many threads does "Drugs are good/bad for you" going to make? The rest I can see a toss up with "Dude I'm so toasted right now" to "Where can I score some stuff".

If that's the case why not open a "Prostitution" board? It could be used to discuss such issues as...

1. Legalisation
2. Health Issues
3. Policy and policing issues.
4. Social impact and personal experience.
5. Where to get reaaaaaally good skank from.

bonkey

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
end of the day - if you support it or not - its illegal..

Unauthorised possession is illegal.

Discussion about the drug, its effects, the research done into it, its industrial uses, the legal products you can get from it, and where to find them. These are all legal, as are many other aspects.

In fact, the only possibly illegal activity would be facilitating dealers. Funnily, that doesnt require a "cannabis board" - it could just as easily be on the After Hours board (for example).

Guess we should shut that down as well, because it might be used for illegal purposes.

Hmmm - better be careful and shut down all of the boards before they're usef for this.

if you want to provide a forum for drug dealers then go ahead, I would be against it myself...

Because thats all the board would be for, right? Dealers. I mean - its been obvious that all the posts so far on how to prevent it becoming such an entity were all pulling the p1ss - what we really want is a forum for discussing where to score, and we're all just pretending otherwise.

Have you even read this thread yet? You know - the one where people in support of the idea have been trying to propose ideas to prevent exactly what you believe the board will be?

Maybe youre right - maybe it will only get full of muppets. Just like the CS board. Oh no, wait - they got rid of most/all of that by requiring "posting approval". Or maybe like the Personal Issues board is because you can post unregistered - oh, hang on....it seems reasonably under control too.

Is there any reason to believe that this would become nothing but a dealer-haven as you seem to suggest, and that deVore would be so blindly idiotic as to not shut it down as a failed experiment should that happen?

jc

amp

My heart says yes but meh brane says no. So I dunno.

FatB

unfortunatly, i think we should check the legal situation first! :rolleyes:

tHE vAGGABOND

bonkey - take it out of context if you want, but reasonable people know what I mean..

I live with 2 smokers, it does not bother me - but at the end of the day its one of these topics that the press and/or politicans would jump on if it became topical..

You can see the sun or the star "boards.ie is a forum for drug dealing" even if it was not -> all we are saying is that to stay on the side of caution would not be a bad thing..

bonkey

Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND
bonkey - take it out of context if you want, but reasonable people know what I mean..

Oh - you didnt mean what you posted then, when you said "if you want to provide a forum for drug dealers then go ahead"

Either you mean it would become a board for drug-dealers, or you mean something other than what you've written.

If I'm being unreasonable by taking this at face value, then fair enough, but maybe you'd explain to me what you meant (as opposed to what you wrote) because apparently I'm a bit thick in that regard.

Also - its hard to take a quote "out of context", when there is no context to put it in...unless there's a chunk of invisible text there which I cant see but the rest of you can.

You can see the sun or the star "boards.ie is a forum for drug dealing" even if it was not.

Certainly, and then I can see them being hit with a nice lawsuit, followed by them handing over a reasonably large chunk of money, and making a very public, very humble apology.

Its called libel - maybe you've heard of it?

The only way it wouldnt be libellous is if boards was a forum for drug-dealing....see my initial response to your first post for comments on that.

> all we are saying is that to stay on the side of caution would not be a bad thing..

Thats funny. I was saying "stay on teh side of caution, make sure your ass is covered". So were several others.

You were saying "dont do it unless you want to be 'dealer central'".

Obviously I misunderstood you again.

jc

Inspector Gadget

...we can state the following points that seem to cover what everyone's saying:

1. It's a legal minefield. Especially considering that people don't tend to read the forum rules anyway.
2. Even if you assume that everyone will be nice and uphold any and all rules/laws, there is also the fact that there's very little that's currently legal that can be discussed on these boards concerning that specific subject - the supply of such material would be exhausted quite quickly, only to rehashed (I know, I know, sorry :rolleyes: ) over and over again.
3. It would draw the "moral superiority"/"outraged" muppets (the type who act first and think later) faster than an open-air orgy on O'Connell St. (as regards which O'Connell Street, well, take your pick).

There's a line from Dilbert that accurately captures dealing with these "outstanding members of the community" (who, to my mind, are quite often "outstanding" because they can't sit down and shut up):

"Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience"

It might also cause you no end of grief if/when you go to renew the domain registration for boards.ie - unless ye're looking for a reason? The P45 crowd, being a .net (IIRC), won't have this problem as they're not dealing with those lovely people in the IEDR...

Just my 2c...
Gadget

tHE vAGGABOND

Obviously I misunderstood you again

obviously you did...

GreenHell

I don't have a problem with people smoking or doing the hell whatever they want with their lives, personnally I don't think a Cannabis board would be the best idea, I mean if your wondering about the legality of it you got politics, if you have a problem with it and your looking for advice you got personnal issues. They boards are there to discuss the topic of all drugs.

Also have board labelled "Cannabis" or something along those lines is wide open to spamming no matter how many mods there are, plus it gives a bad impression of boards along with the impression that cannabis has, yes I know this is a stereotype or whatever but you will more than likely turn some potential readers of the boards away.

tHE vAGGABOND

What GreenHell said

Shad0r

I smoke from time to time and would be very pro legalisation/ decriminalisation of cannabis so from my point of view I think its a great idea.

I do think however that perhaps a more broad "drugs" forum would probably be more appropriate, unless the specific purpose of the board is similar to that of Ireland Off Line, i.e. lobby group for the decriminalisation of the drug.

Either way these boards are supposed to be for discussing society and life. Drugs are a fairly big part of life and society in general whether you choose to do them or not or whether your prepared to admit it or not.

Just my two cents.

Hobbes

Originally posted by Shad0r
Drugs are a fairly big part of life

Yours prehaps.

bonkey

Originally posted by GreenHell
I don't have a problem with people smoking or doing the hell whatever they want with their lives, personnally I don't think a Cannabis board would be the best idea, I mean if your wondering about the legality of it you got politics, if you have a problem with it and your looking for advice you got personnal issues. They boards are there to discuss the topic of all drugs.

Yes, but by this logic, we could wrap everything into one board called "general" and get rid of all these silly partitions we already have. Yes, I know that this is a bit facetious, but seriously - the logic has always been about whether or not a topic generates enough traffic to be worth splitting off to a board of its own. Witness the CS board which, IIRC, sprang from the Half-Life board. Why? I mean - CS is a Half-Life mod - there was already a place to discuss it. Surely we didnt need that.

In the same vein, both of the boards you mention as appropriate alternatives are, in fact, amongst the newest boards. Why were they spun off from boards which already carried their content?

I take the point you're making, but I think that deVore's idea was that there is sufficient interest to make this worthwhile as a dedicated board. If there isnt, then you fold it again.

Also have board labelled "Cannabis" or something along those lines is wide open to spamming no matter how many mods there are,

Really? I coulda sworn that the rampant spamming on the CS board more or less disappeared when it was made "register to post" - which is what several people have suggested would be the obvious first step in creating a cannabis board. I see no evidence to believe that it would suffer significant spamming. At worst, it would involve that the admins/mods not approve anyone until they have a "proven presence" on boards.ie or something like that. How many people are going to involve themselves in multiple discussions, posting intelligently, just so that they can spam the cannabis forum as soon as they are allowed?

plus it gives a bad impression of boards along with the impression that cannabis has, yes I know this is a stereotype or whatever but you will more than likely turn some potential readers of the boards away.

No more than are turned away by the cliqueishness of the place, the hostility towards new members who have opinions which said cliques take exception to, or the almost-constant bitching wars which seem to go on amongst various individuals.

And yes, it is a stereotype. One which I would see a dedicated board going a long way to breaking, if it was managed right. Keep muppetry to a minimum, try and encourage intelligent discussion, and have genuinely useful information.

When I was growing up, my school gave me the "drugs are baaad, mkay?" lecture. My mum gave me the "Some expert on the Gaybo show was on about how cannabis is so bad". Not in one place did anyone actually present a balanced view, or even suggest that their POV was not flawless. Personally, I would applaud a boards system which had the guts to stand up and dare to discuss such topics openly and honestly, with advocates from both sides being more than welcome to state their case in a civilised manner. Anyone who ignores it because it breaks their stereotyped image is probably the type of person who would wouldnt feel at home on these boards anyway.

I think it can be done, and I think it would be a great idea. I think it could be hugely beneficial to some. Yes, if mis-manged it will be a disaster, but thats an outside chance. I would imagine that should deV decide to run with this idea, that he will be keeping an eye on its infancy (at least) and as the owner/overfiend here, he can pull the plug at any stage.

jc

Coyote

Just an idea maybe the board could be made private. But there could be a list of privet boards that people can join if they wanted to. That way it would just be on people’s private forum lists, if they wanted to read and post they can.
I do think that it could be a good board for discussion, but even a forum like the way CS is setup might be a bit too much for parents and others. This board could be over 18 only and could not be read by under 18 as it would be a private forum. You would need to reg and agree that you are over 18 with a proven no Spam posts about the boards.


Coyote

Cake Fiend

I recommend a private board, with a moderator who's reasonably clued up as to the legal ins and outs regarding the subject - that way any posts that could potentially get boards.ie in trouble can be edited swiftly.

As for the idea of an all-encompassing 'drugs' board - I'm not so sure that would be a good idea; one step at a time methinks.

zenith

Among the topics that this board could discuss are:

The absurdity of a law that has made at least 30% of under thirties criminals. And many, many of their parents.

How a law that draws the legal system into disrepute is damaging to our shared social system.

The medical uses of cannabis, including pain relief in chemotherapy and multiple sclerosis.

The depoliticisation of young people caused by a patriarchial attitude to their wellbeing.

The tobacco lobby: cannabis as a gateway drug to cigarette smoking.

How to score safely.

Why the cops are not out catching real criminals.

An open forum for people to assess their consumption, and for them to possibly honestly check if their consumption is causing a problem.

Taking the distribution of the drug out of the hands of criminals, and imposing a fair tax on consumption.

Reducing the mystique of the drug by reducing the 'cred' of the behavior.

Open consumption of cannabis can only lead to the hidden problems that it is causing now becoming more obvious to the people that can help: discuss.

Psychatric problems that can be caused by smoking draw to excess: how to spot the problems, and how to deal with them.

The link between prolonged cannabis smoking and infertility.

The social aspect of cannabis smoking: jolly good fun, or it does nothing for me. Yes, there are people who it does nothing for.

Would you prefer your child to smoke a j, or drink a flagon of cider? Which of the two drug suppliers has state sanction, and which is most likely to abuse the situation?

Drug tests: is it going to be genetic profiling for employees next?

---

I think it's a good idea, in the same way that an abuse (as in sexual) abuse board might be helpful to some.

However, I honestly think that the age/mental age profile of boards is a little young for this. Maybe in a couple of years.

However, I'd be delighted to help if necessary.

Shad0r

Originally posted by Hobbes


Yours prehaps.

I resent that comment. You dont know anything about me or my life.

My comment was made as a general statement about life and society. Would you agree that most people in their lives have to make a decision whether they want to take drugs or not?

Whether its a serious drug or just nicotine I would say that everyone faces that decision. The point I was trying to make was that in my opinion a board that is available for people to discuss that decision and then at the very least make an informed decision is a good thing.

I very seriously doubt that having a board on drugs is likely to promote the use of said drugs.

end of the day - if you support it or not - its illegal..

if you want to provide a forum for drug dealers then go ahead, I would be against it myself...

Yes its illegal to posses and/or sell drugs. Its not illegal to talk about it. Its very defintely not illegal to try to explain to people the dangers before they do the drugs and thereby hopefully persuade them to not do them.

I see this forum as an opprtunity to educate people about drugs instead of pretending that they dont exist. It would NEVER be a place for drug dealers to push their drugs. I would suggest having at least two mods to make sure that there is almost constant moderation of the forum to ensure this.

Clinical Waste

Hehehehehe................hehehehehehe...................hehe........he........hehehehehehe...........

tHE vAGGABOND

good list of possible questions zenith

but, the baddie had to come up..

How to score safely.

zenith

Eh, it's not a where to score, it's a how to score _safely_.

Not a baddie. You know, don't mess with bad people. Tell your friends where you're going. Know what you're buying. Don't carry too much cash. etc.

GreenHell

Bonkey I would agree with you that if a canabis board was created and well managed to discuss the issues devore has highlighted would a good idea, personnally I don't think creating a seperate board about canabis is necessary but then thats just my opinion perhaps I'm just underestimating how popular this board could be.

Drawing comparsions with the creation of the cs board; CS had gone so big in its own right and is now a solo game it did deserve a board of its own and such was the popularity if it as a topic of discussion on the half life board it was obvious that a seperate cs board would be successful, plus the TF eads wanted it as badly as the CS ers Looking at the society boards the drug threads don't compare to cs a topic of discusion. Anyway I'm guessing it comes down to that pole weather or not a cannabis board is created so that will eventually show peoples opinion to creating this board.

Final thought
If a board is to be created and debate created it shouldn't be private.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Shad0r

Originally posted by GreenHell
Final thought
If a board is to be created and debate created it shouldn't be private.

I'm with GH on that one. I dont think it should be private but it should absolutly have the same admitance system that the CS board has. i.e. you have to be ok'd by a mod of the forum before you can post. I think thats paramount tbh.

This system worked to cut out spam and muppetry on the CS forum so I dont see why it wouldnt work on a drugs forum.

Dustaz

Its probably not a good idea.

Number 1, Humanities, PI and Afterhours are hardly bursting with threads on Cannabis. Most topics that do come up are merely re-hashed (BA-DUM!) replies of previous topics. Plus the fact that nearly all the issues can be discussed on said boards.

2. The whole media thing. Bonkey, i think your being a little pedantic talking about sueing for libel. If theres one thing we should all know its that the media (and in particular tabloids) will jump on anything to whip up a little fuss. They would not have to libel boards.ie to do this:

SHAME OF IRISH WEBSITE THAT OFFERS DRUGS INFO TO KIDS AS YOUNG AS 13!!

Nothing illegal in that, completly factual and sure to get mary on the phone to gerry ryan. Of course, theres a school of thought that says all publicity is good publicity.

The exact same argument could be used to shut down the PI, Humanities and After Hours boards but if were all being honest,, Drugs are a pretty hot potato of an issue.

If it was a Pro-Legalisation group asking for a board (like Ireland Offline) then no problem, its a more valid reason. Untill mods are constantly editing drug posts on the above forums, i dont think its really worth it tbh.

zenith

Anybody who swallys scare stories like that (the Interweb, it's not just about porn now, but they have drugs there too) is probably too worried about "dem black ni*gers coming here, taking our jobs", to really do anyting about it.

Remember: red top newspapers == entertainment. Give the rest of the media some credit: if they discuss it, they'll discuss it: I'm sure boards will be given the chance to retort.

A discussion forum is not like running a crack house. Sadly.

In addition, some of us value our free speech, and would like to rattle a few cages so that we might keep our liberties.

Remember, people died for the freedoms that you're so scared to exercise.

Think, man, think! Don't just sit there, consume and - eventually - die.

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by zenith
Anybody who swallys scare stories like that (the Interweb, it's not just about porn now, but they have drugs there too) is probably too worried about "dem black ni*gers coming here, taking our jobs", to really do anyting about it.

Remember: red top newspapers == entertainment. Give the rest of the media some credit: if they discuss it, they'll discuss it: I'm sure boards will be given the chance to retort.

A discussion forum is not like running a crack house. Sadly.

In addition, some of us value our free speech, and would like to rattle a few cages so that we might keep our liberties.

Remember, people died for the freedoms that you're so scared to exercise.

Think, man, think! Don't just sit there, consume and - eventually - die.

As with many things in life, it's not that simple. This is good old Catholic Ireland we're talking about here, and there are still a worrying amount of people who're more willing to express what they think is the "the majority opinion" than they are to go off and grow one of their own.

You'll see people posting stuff like "this is a disgrace", "I'm writing to my TD", etc. etc. and even if after all this time nothing legal or publically negative becomes of it it will still be a nightmare to moderate.

I also have no doubt that people (probably kids) will post silly attention-grabbing stuff that'll land them-what-own-the-place in hot water.

I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - hell, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole lashed to a bargepole. It's not a moral objection to the subject matter, it's a moral objection to listening to whingers who reckon it's a bad idea.

Gadget.

zenith

Ah, it's always been like that around here, and some people might knock it, and it might be hard, so it's not worth doing. Glad we sorted that out.

Ireland is the old sow that eats her farrow still, it seems.

DeVore

Grrrrrrrr. Zenith knows all the buttons to push with me, dont you.

Publish and be damned? You'd know a thing or three about that

I'm torn about this. Not for some of the reasons given but just that I think its a topic that should be discussed in the open and I HATE the curtailing of the free expression of ideas.
Even ones I totally disagree with, oddly enough.

Hmmm, I have to be sure that if we set something like this up we arent going to jeapordise what we have built here...
I'm not one to back off a fight but I dont want to standing in a house full of rubble either...

DeV.

MiCr0

then don't create a board
but make it known that legitimate decussion is fine as long as its within reason

PhilipMarlowe

I earlier suggested that the posts be "pre-approved", not quite like the CS forum where the posters are pre-approved, but here they individual posts would be queued until they were given the all-clear by a moderator(s).

Although this would leave absolutely no chance of muppetry, it might also create a problem in that if anyone were to take issue with something that was allowed, your case of “real-time nature.. can’t be held responsible.. etc.” would no longer wash.

Shad0r

Originally posted by zenith
Anybody who swallys scare stories like that (the Interweb, it's not just about porn now, but they have drugs there too) is probably too worried about "dem black ni*gers coming here, taking our jobs", to really do anyting about it.

Remember: red top newspapers == entertainment. Give the rest of the media some credit: if they discuss it, they'll discuss it: I'm sure boards will be given the chance to retort.

A discussion forum is not like running a crack house. Sadly.

In addition, some of us value our free speech, and would like to rattle a few cages so that we might keep our liberties.

Remember, people died for the freedoms that you're so scared to exercise.

Think, man, think! Don't just sit there, consume and - eventually - die.

What Zenith said.

MiCr0

nm

BuffyBot

Originally posted by DeVore

I'm torn about this. Not for some of the reasons given but just that I think its a topic that should be discussed in the open and I HATE the curtailing of the free expression of ideas.
Even ones I totally disagree with, oddly enough.

Hmmm, I have to be sure that if we set something like this up we arent going to jeapordise what we have built here...
I'm not one to back off a fight but I dont want to standing in a house full of rubble either...

DeV.

Old cliche: Better safe than sorry?

A pre-approved board would filter out the muppets, but it's still likely that it could draw unwanted attention on boards.ie......

Still personally think it's a bad idea, but thats just an opinion

Inspector Gadget

Originally posted by DeVore
I'm torn about this. Not for some of the reasons given but just that I think its a topic that should be discussed in the open and I HATE the curtailing of the free expression of ideas.
Even ones I totally disagree with, oddly enough.

An honourable sentiment, sir. Unfortunately, a rare one...

Originally posted by DeVore
Hmmm, I have to be sure that if we set something like this up we arent going to jeopardise what we have built here...
I'm not one to back off a fight but I dont want to standing in a house full of rubble either...

Herein lies the problem. Providing a forum for a subject matter a chunk of the people of the island (and beyond) feel strongly negatively about (whether that sentiment is justified with facts or not) is like Russian Roulette, except you have no idea how many chambers the gun has, or (for that matter) how many of them actually contain bullets. You can try to guesstimate it, but that's not much good to you when the gun's pointed at your head...

If you go forward with this, you really don't know what kind of enemies you make; after all, in my experience and through my own observations, even calm, rational people can completely "bitflip" if you come across the wrong topic of conversation, or touch the wrong "nerve".

(It's a sequence of words I never, ever, imagined I'd type, but...) I'm with Buffyboy on this one (at least, in terms of "better safe than sorry"). One forum could, in more than theory, jeopardise the whole shebang. Remember what you said, DeVore, about some people whose business you were chasing (with Spin) reacting less than positively to you when they realised that you ran boards.ie? Can you imagine how that'll go if you launch this forum and negative media coverage ensues? The majority of the kind of people whose business eventually pays your wages don't want to deal with "controversial" outfits/companies/people - they want the minimum of hassle. And who'd blame them?

Gadget

DeVore

Old cliche: Better safe then sorry?

Thats true but I also believe you live on your feet rather then die on your knees.

Still thinking hard about it...

DeV.

bonkey

Originally posted by DeVore

Still thinking hard about it...

Here's some more food for thought.

Precedence

Discussions have arisen before (and recently) about the subject of sex. Typically, adult-themed boards have been turned down for various reasons - policing of content and access being the big bad mostly.

If you create a canabis board (which I am in favour of), you must also consider the precedent which you are setting in the way in which you do it - boards will no longer be all "clean and above board", but rather will have some potentially controversial content. Once you've done this, it becomes harder to deny the creation other boards on grounds of "unsuitable content".

Well - maybe it doesnt. You the boss - you dont have to justify decisions or even make consistent ones

Still - something to think about.

jc

Coyote

There are a few problems as I see it, but there are ways around them.

1. making people agree that they know what the forum is about, that they are over
   a set age (IE: 16, 18, 21, 65 )
   
2. Possibly making a new menu at the top with a list of the forums that people have to subscribe to. (Then other forums that might not be just right for total open forums could be added.)
   
3. Like the CS board you would have to be approved by a mod. To cut down on messing on the board.
   
4. To remove as much legal responsibility from boards.ie that you can. By making the forum open too all that want to talk about it but not set as a default open board to people when they join boards.ie.

This way anyone can join boards.ie and post and see all the open boards, but they would have to ask to join the other boards and agree not to post any thing illegal and follow the laws of Ireland on the subject matter.

This will not remove the all the risks but it would stop most complaints that could be put at board.ie about letting children reading about unsuitable material.

I do think that it would be good to have a fourm.

Coyote

seamus

Originally posted by bonkey
If you create a canabis board (which I am in favour of), you must also consider the precedent which you are setting in the way in which you do it - boards will no longer be all "clean and above board", but rather will have some potentially controversial content. Once you've done this, it becomes harder to deny the creation other boards on grounds of "unsuitable content".

Strangely enough though, 'controversial content' = more interest. If some parent made a big deal of it, then every single irish person between the age of 13-16 would sign up. A situation I don't think most of us want. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with 'young adults', but an influx of them would triple (quadruple?) the work mods have to do, and boards could become a 'hang out' for angsty teenagers (moreso than it already is ). Young teenagers tend to be immature anyway, ie muppets.

The problem here then I see is avoiding having a lot of attention drawn to it, and that means stamping out trolls the second they start. IMO, it should be a general drugs board (if created) and it should be pointed out sternly that any points should be backed up with relevant links, etc. Posts of the type 'Cannabis makes you blind/deaf/sterile/dumb' without backup should be edited.

Basically have it on lockdown until we know what kind of stuff is going to get posted. The same thing I suggested for the CS board - give all mods moderator powers on the board, so anything dodgy/stupid will be dealt with right away. Plus operate a 3 strikes system, where users face a permanent ban from the drugs forum after 3 trolling/flaming/paranoid posts.

Plus you could debrief all of the mods together on the mod board (or thru email)

Trojan

Live free or die.

Al.

Coyote

so any idea on what your going to do DeVore ?

po0k

"Should we have a cannabis board?"

Yes.

kaimera

I think Seamus has the right idearas for the forum to keep it *safe* enough.

IMHO..prolly be a better choice to have a general Drugs forum for discussion. Chances are, Cannabis will be the main topic anyway.

Just my 10 cent...

lordsippa

Ok... it really seems like people are making a massive deal out of something that's not really all that big. The age restrictions... I doubt they'd be neccessary. Any muppets (and i mean the young 'uns in this case) show up and they'll be kicked out, and since they'll be told to feck off they probably won't tell their friends to come here. So that's a good thing.

Secondly, once there's a certain limit placed on the board, so it doesn't become a place to organise deals and once it's made clear that all arguments must be kept... polite, there should be no hassle.

It's not like it's some kind of pornographic board. Fact is, so long as nothing illegal is done there, there shouldn't be any problem allowing access to the younger board goers. And if illegal sh!t starts going on then it shouldn't be there at all anyway.


And that's what i say. Aye.

pat kenny

Seems like a big waste of time to me,just leave it on the after hours board ,I dont think its big enough to warrent a board.


Can we have an Atari jaguar board insted?

Inspector Gadget

...it occurs to me that something like that will be terribly hard to police unless you adopt the policy Ireland.com use (and everyone was putting down in a previous thread) of having all posts "censored" by a moderator.

I can't help but get the impression that:

1. There's no way of validating anyone's age here - all they have to do is say "Yes, I'm eighteen/sixteen/thirteen/whatever" and they're allowed in - while it may be legally sufficient it's certainly not going to be sufficient for the so-called "moral majority" if they find their little Johnny trawling the board and realise what it is...
2. Banning users - so what? All they do is come back with a different username - while banning IPs is effective to a certain extent, that extent is quite limited as (considering the chronic shortage of IPv4 addresses) most IPs are dynamically allocated rather than static, not to mention that even if you do block IPs all the person has to do is switch to another free ISP...
3. The "honour principle" for discussed topics, as suggested by lordsippa, is interesting; however, it's highly unlikely that people will adhere to such a system, especially as many of them will feel that no-one knows them on the boards, and all that...

Plus, if the kind of content control suggested in the posts before mine were implemented, I can't see people taking kindly to being told that their post was off-topic/not-to-be-discussed/legally-dubious/unwanted/?

Just my 2c...
Gadget

king of fifa

i think you just created a ganga board by starting this tread