eLetters to:

ELECTRONIC ARTICLE: Paul M. Wax Just a Click Away: Recreational Drug Web Sites on the Internet Pediatrics 2002; 109: e96 [Abstract] [Full text] [PDF]

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eLetters published:

Don't Blame the Internet

Andrew G. Leyton   (5 June 2002)

Information As A Tool

Dusty S. O'Connell   (10 June 2002)

Blame Human Nature

Thomas J. O'Connell   (10 June 2002)

What the cases tell us or don't tell us

Eric E Sterling   (10 June 2002)

Should a Library have a Single Message?

F. R. Erowid, E. R. Erowid   (11 June 2002)

Mother against Online drugs

Laura L Smith   (25 June 2003)

Re: Mother against Online drugs

J.A. J.   (3 January 2004)

Don't Blame the Internet 5 June 2002
Andrew G. Leyton, Student York University Send letter to journal: Re: Don't Blame the Internet YU249185{at}YorkU.CA Andrew G. Leyton	It seems like the author is trying to blame the Internet for the fact that people intentionally use chemicals hypermedically. That's not the purpose of websites such as Erowid and The Third Plateau. The fact is that people look for ways to get high and the webmasters of such sites and many of the people who contribute to such sites believe that accurate information about chemicals such as Dextromethorphan should be available. For example, case study #1 cites a young woman who took 8 Coricidin pills. Had she visited The Third Plateau and read the information available (cited below) she would have realized how dangerous Coricidin is: from the front page of The Third Plateau "Coricidin is very dangerous. Coricidin has caused at least 6 known deaths,and abuse routinely has resulted in hospitalization, often with the person in critical condition. Check out the DXM Dangers section for more info about Coricidin and it's dangers." f/ http://www.third-plateau.org/dangers/coricidin.shtml "Do Not use Coricidin Cough and Cold recreationally! There have been several cases of severe problems resulting from even moderate Coricidin use, including bleeding eyeballs (I'm not kidding), serious nausea, coma, and two confirmed deaths. DO NOT use Coricidin recreationally." One website dedicates itself to reporting deaths due to Dextromethorphan and spreading the word about the dangers of Coricidin. What is apparent from sites like The Third Plateau is that many people who use or used to use Coricidin did (or do) not even understand that the chemical the were getting high off was (is) Dextromethorphan, and that they are ingesting an antihistamine when they take Coricidin. Word of mouth reports of being able to get high from taking Coricidin informs adolescents nothing of what to expect from certain doses (which is important to know when taking drugs, obviously) nor anything about safety (or lack thereof). Sites like The Third Plateau have an abundance of information about what to expect from given doses, possible dangers, etc. If you see a tremendous disservice being done to today's youth because of "pro-drug" information websites, I think you are missing these sites essential reason for existing: to provide accurate information so that potential users can decide for themselves. Yes, drug information on the Internet is just a click away, but that isn't a bad thing.
Information As A Tool 10 June 2002
Dusty S. O'Connell, Student University of North Dakota Send letter to journal: Re: Information As A Tool soulsabre{at}hailmail.net Dusty S. O'Connell	I felt that "Just a Click Away" could be a very valuable resource to pediatricians and emergency medical personnel. It discussed several Web sites that go into detail about the recreational use of some rather unorthodox and relatively unknown substances. Most doctors, nurses, paramedics, and even drug addiction counselors in this area are unfamiliar with club drugs as a whole, and many have never heard of GBL, 2C-T-7, AMT, DMT, 5-MEO-DMT, DXM, and so on. As useful as this service is for medical personnel, the existence of Web sites like these will invariably prevent more people from showing up in the emergency room, suffering from seizures or other adverse reactions from substance abuse. When information such as this is easily accessible, the user can learn about safe and unsafe methods of chemical use that would not be available on the street. (There is a distinct difference between The DXM FAQ on third-plateau.org and one youth telling another during study hall that if you drink a whole lot of cough syrup, you hallucinate.) It is the very accessibility of this information that makes it so useful - it can be used to discover what went wrong after the fact, and also to prevent things from going wrong before the fact. As tempting as it may be to attempt to shield our children's/friends'/spouse's eyes and ears from Web sites such as these, it would ultimately be irresponsible and dangerous to do so.
Blame Human Nature 10 June 2002
Thomas J. O'Connell, physician (retired) DrugSense.org Send letter to journal: Re: Blame Human Nature tjeffo{at}drugsense.org Thomas J. O'Connell	All of human experience confirms that whenever government seeks to limit consenseual human behavior-- or the dissemination of truth-- by fiat and on the basis of someones' moral scruples, such efforts will ultimately generate effective opposition. Our drug policy is based on nonsense; it has not only never been effective; it's always been destructive. The authors' complaints about the availability of alternative information on the interenet have all been heard before. Totalitarianism simply doesn't work-- pareticularly in a so- called 'free' society.
What the cases tell us or don't tell us 10 June 2002
Eric E Sterling, Attorney/ Foundation Executive Criminal Justice Policy Foundation Send letter to journal: Re: What the cases tell us or don't tell us esterling{at}cjpf.org Eric E Sterling	Doctor Wax reports on two cases. Case 1, a 14-year old girl, is attempting to climb the walls in school, she's agitated, has hallucinations, and a sense of reality. She has gotten high on over-the-counter cold medication. She reported she wanted to "get high," and obtained dosage information from the Internet. Within four hours her agitation cleared. No information on prior experiments with alcohol or other forms of intoxication. First, where did her desire to "get high" come from? Was it endogenous? Was it learned from parents, friends, school, the culture at large, or was it taught to her by the perfidious friend of young people, the Internet? The author infers the Internet. Second, she appears to have suffered no lasting physical consequences from her drug use. Was she in physical danger from the drug? Her vital signs showed no danger. Perhaps the information on the Internet about dosage was accurate and reliable? Third, what will become of this girl? Did she enjoy her experience of getting high? Did this event satisfy her curiosity? Is she now deterred from further experimentation with other drugs for the purpose of getting high? Is she on the road to future experimentation, regular use, habituation, degradation, prostitution, death and damnation? Or will she stick to the culturally accepable drugs of abuse such as alcoholic beverages? Case 2, an 18-year old college student, using a new and obscure "designer drug," 2C-T-7, went to the ED after having a seizure. After observation for a "few hours", the student was released and went home. No mention at all that the student consulted the Internet. Ignorant as are most of us are about this drug, in a standard medical research effort (Medline and toxicology references), the author found nothing about the drug. However, without much effort a wealth of information about the drug's chemistry and effects was found at two prominent drug information web sites. No mention that any of the information was inaccurate. No suggestion how enormously valuable these resources are to ED personnel. No mention that the Erowid website has a specific address inviting the public to submit corrections of errors. Since this drug, 2C-T-7, was unknown to Dr. Wax until he consulted the Internet, he implies, without any evidence, that the student must have learned about it from the Internet. Dr. Wax concludes, "Alluring information about the benefits of recreational drug use is easily retrieved on the Internet." "Adolescents...may be particularly susceptible to these communications." This is hyperbole. If Dr. Wax had attempted to write about the "alluring information about the benefits of recreational drug use easily retrieved" in books in community, high school and college libraries, Pediatrics would not have found this case note worth publishing. Would Pediatrics publish a case note about a young person who came to the ED who knew Dewey decimal numbers such as 615.782 or 306.1 or 362.295 where library books with "alluring information about the benefits of recreational drug use [are] easily retrieved ..."? Dr. Wax suggests, "For additional information on these drugs, health care providers should consider referring their adolescent patients and parents to Web sites provided by the medical community, such as the National Institute of Drug Abuse Web site (clubdrugs.org)." Unfortunately, www.clubdrugs.org is fairly described as propaganda -- government financed and approved, but propaganda none the less. Those of us in Washington who follow the issues of drug abuse know that careers are made on claims that responsible persons "do not send the wrong message" about drugs. Dr. Wax no doubt fancies himself as the contemporary Paul Revere, but this time it seems he's warning us about confusing lights shining in the steeple of Old North Church.
Should a Library have a Single Message? 11 June 2002
F. R. Erowid, Head Archivist Erowid.org, E. R. Erowid Send letter to journal: Re: Should a Library have a Single Message? info{at}erowid.org F. R. Erowid, et al.	Although we disagree with some of the tone of Dr. Wax's article, we appreciate his contribution of two case reports to the literature and his detailed presentation of some alternative online resources to the readers of Pediatrics. Unfortunately, Dr. Wax uses the term "prodrug" to describe the nature of the Erowid project. While it may be expedient to divide information sites into "prodrug" and "antidrug" groupings, this distinction seems to dismiss the concept of a complex, multi-viewpoint information source. Dr. Wax touches on this later in his article, by pointing out that the Erowid site contains "mixed messages" about the topics it covers. We are confused by the implication that a coherent "single message" could be conveyed by an "encyclopedic" library of information on an extremely complex and controversial subject such as the use of psychoactives. Should a library have a single "message"? Not a library that most of us would like to use. It might be useful to clarify again that Erowid.org is the equivalent of a library. It is made up of thousands of articles written by thousands of authors, with thousands of different viewpoints. In fact, only a small number of articles on the site are actually written by the Erowid staff. It is our position that an information source with a "single message" will be seen as untrustworthy and biased by many readers: including those who choose to use psychoactives and those who choose to conduct research on them. We thank Dr. Wax for his nuanced discussion of the complexity of Erowid.org and other alternative online information sources, and for his considered opinions about implications these sites may have for pediatric clinicians.
Mother against Online drugs 25 June 2003
Laura L Smith, Model Send letter to journal: Re: Mother against Online drugs Ladywver69{at}aol.com Laura L Smith	As a mother of three very bright and talented children I am afraid for my childrens future if lawmakers can not ban or even control this kind of online "drug abuse". A simple search phrase can take my children to dangerous recipes for drugs and drug abuse. And whats more shocking I think is that a wide array of these recipes are written by teenage children, and posted with no restriction. If this is what WWW means by the "Information Age", I would rather my children remain Ignorant. one mothers opinion
Re: Mother against Online drugs 3 January 2004
J.A. J., Defense Consultant Self Send letter to journal: Re: Re: Mother against Online drugs x012358{at}icqmail.com J.A. J.	As a mother of three very bright and talented children I am afraid for my childrens future if lawmakers can not ban or even control this kind of online "drug abuse". A simple search phrase can take my children to dangerous recipes for drugs and drug abuse. And whats more shocking I think is that a wide array of these recipes are written by teenage children, and posted with no restriction. If this is what WWW means by the "Information Age", I would rather my children remain Ignorant. You are a mother of three children you aclaim as being very bright and talented. First I salute you for taking on the single most difficult endeavor available to the human experience. You've chosen to raise children. My reply is based on some confusion in your wording. Are your children under your control or are they randomly searching their environment for some place where they can disregard the moral and ethical teaching you've bestowed? A simple search phrase can take your children to dangerous recipes for drugs and drug abuse yet that same search phrase can take them to pages that decry drug use with near hysterical intensity. No search engine is so specific that it takes you only to that specifc item. (Unless, perhaps, they're using an already known URL as their search in which case, they've been to the site and something about it intrigued them.) So, which is it? Are they bright and talented or are they going to be Ignorant? Can you teach them that they shouldn't do things that will injure themselves or can't you? You're the parent. You're the ultimate source of their learning in matters of morality and ethics. Do you live with a computer that's lacking an on/off switch? You DO know how to read the history files to see where they've been and what they've been looking at, don't you? If not, why in hell do you have that piece of, as you've suggested, dangerous equipment where your children can reach it? If you can't turn it off when they're surfing sites you find inapropriate, might I suggest a pair of insulated lineman's pliers and a quick snip to the power cable? Be a parent. Do your job. Don't ask the legislators to ban information. Don't ask them to waste our tax money trying to do something that's clearly impossible. Teach your children what you believe to be right, wrong and everything in between. Just do it and don't ask for other's to do your job.