Erowid.org Could Use Some of Your Money, Please

by Mr. Bad

2001-01-02 15:45:56

Substance Recreation

Hey, so, check it out: pretty much the best drug info site on the Innurnet is in need of some big fat sacks of cash. They're running a pledge drive, and YOU need to pledge, eh?

If you are even VAGUELY interested in drugs in even a marginal way, then you know about erowid.org already. They are like the premier site for finding out datur about all kinds of fabulous drugs. They have copies of scientific papers, references, and accounts of personal experience covering everything from old favorites like absinthe to weird crazy lab drugs like 5-MeO-DIPT.

Erowid is like the Webification of that psychonaut guy you know who's got valuable and interesting experience with every drug known to man. Most of the shit is illegal, so he'll have important street-based information -- but a lot of it has been investigated in universities and labs, so he'll have brain-chemical-psychological info, too. It's really the best place to start when you're trying out a new drug -- or if you're just interested in an old one. It's a good way to settle a bet, even.

Anyways, having good drug info on the Web is important. It saves lives and keeps us all safer. Even folks who don't do drugs and lead a straight and sober life -- like yours truly -- are better off when there's not uninformed hopheads bleeding from the ears and falling on us at bus stops. I mean, ear-blood stains pretty badly.

Oh, OK, so the upshot is that Erowid needs some money, and they're raising it in a pretty cool way. They're soliciting donations from people a la NPR with a pledge drive. I think that's a pretty good model for supporting Web sites, actually -- if you think the information is important, and you want it to continue, you pony up some dollars.

They're throwing in T-shirts if you pledge a high enough amount, even, just like NPR! But unlike with NPR, you don't end up looking like a humorless yuppie when you wear the T-shirt. You look like a fabulous inner space explorer and friend of intellectual freedom. Beaujolais to you!

Check it out yourself

wunderbar@pigdog.org