YouTube cracks down on drug abuse video?
September 13, 2008
LA Times blogger David Sarno has coverage of the implications of some new YouTube rules on posting clips depicting drug use.
I don’t have a lot of time at the moment to get into this but I will note that I have used embeds of the Salvia clips myself to make points in posts. And I’ve linked to a certain animated mashup video of a particular raggae song more than once. So I’m an interested party.
Knee-jerk sez: Waaah, censorship! My life is being affected for no obvious good reason.
return to huntI’m sure I’ll reflect on the implications, the rationale (clips encourage drug use?) later but until then, have at it…
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More thoughts: For example, if I talk about my addiction to caffeine in the usual dismissive and indeed affectionate, terms am I encouraging drug use? Coffee is legal for all ages (I think? Would starbucks give a 4 yr old an espresso?). For that matter cigarette smoking is legal for adults and we try to purge all depictions from the view of the impressionable youth.
Yet I am not certain that Salvia videos sought on YouTube intentionally have the same role as pervasive, inevitable, normalized, glamourous, etc depictions of cigarette smoking.
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More, following up on Abel’s comment with respect to the cup. There will be schwag being made. Nothing too fancy. Simple designs like the following. There’s a process so things may move slowly.
DrugMonkey 
September 14, 2008 at 9:00 am
Several points, on- and off-topic:
1. Is that a DrugMonkey coffee cup???? Where do I get me one? Will there also be a line of PhysioProf products? I can see it now, “I scored [my first R01/my first faculty position/this killer postdoc] because I read DrugMonkey.”
2. The YouTube rules are interesting also in light of the fact, pointed out by Sarno, the Salvia is still legal in the US (for the time being).
3. I use YouTube videos in my lectures, properly attributed and not embedded (i.e., accessed only by going to the site). In using these videos for education, one might have a positive influence in the dissemination of objective information on the actions and risks of drugs of abuse, legal or not. YouTube videos don’t make people do illicit drugs; people make people do illicit drugs.
4. If they dare touch the mashup for the 1983 Toyes song, I am going ballistic. Thankfully, they have the sense to have left it up as of this morning.
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September 14, 2008 at 11:00 am
1) I was thinking that I might need some door prizes or something and then one thing led to another…anyway, I’m working on it. Yeah, that cup is a trial run 🙂 (if you want physioproffisms on a t-shirt, well, you know who to bother!)
Negotiations with the mothership over various things are very encouraging. In fact I would suggest that if anyone wants Sb branded swag for purchase, the time may be ripe for asking that such a thing be made available.
2) Definitely two different issues. I think ones that depict or encourage illegal behavior are different than the ones that depict legal behavior that people just don’t like. I dunno, would it be sort of like pornography? ..course I suppose that has all sorts of legal restrictions, despite being legal. I’m out of my depth here, I’ll keep an eye on the legalize-eet sites like DrugLawBlog (see blogroll) and maybe Big Eddie will take it on…
3) weeeeellll, yes. but the relationship between popular/normalized depiction of cigarette smoking and use is…clear isn’t it? isn’t it? And you all know how I feel about the popular media shift in tone about MDMA and how that may have affected use patterns circa 2002…
4) oh man, that thing cracks me up. didn’t everyone know those guys in college or highschool?
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September 14, 2008 at 11:11 am
I can see it now, “I scored [my first R01/my first faculty position/this killer postdoc] because I read DrugMonkey.”
That would be me! My R01 for Oct submission is almost ready to go…
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October 1, 2008 at 3:29 pm
YouTube has included cracker desecration on their non-grata list apparently..
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