Wellbutrin is a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Cocaine is a dopamine reuptake inhibitor. So arguably if a person were on wellbutrin cocaine wouldn’t be active in the body and I was wondering if studies had been done on this subject. It is a simple question about molecular biology. Jesus.
In the opinion of the moderator, the topic endorsed behavior that is illegal.
They cited our rules on the subject.
I note that the way you state the question NOW is not how it was originally stated in the thread title; the first time around sounds much more like heading towards illegal activity. When crafting a thread for the board, you should consider how what you ask or what you say will be perceived; perception is what obtains much of the time.
TubaDiva
Reasons why the thread was closed:
- It is my understanding that the use of cocaine is illegal, at least when used for non-medical purposes.
- You asked a specific medical question in your GQ OP, the answers to which could foster or promote illegal use of the drug.
- Specific medical questions should be addressed to professionally qualified medical personnel, especially when following advice given in the thread could lead to negative repercussions.
If you believe I am mistaken, please explain your stance.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
- It is. But people discuss genocide on these boards too, it doesn’t mean we go out and commit it
- I wasn’t promoting cocaine usage. And I wasn’t asking for advice. I wanted to know if there were scientific studies on wellbutrin as a treatment for cocaine addiction.
- All I wanted were scientific papers. I am not a cocaine addict and I’ve never taken cocaine, amphetamines or wellbutrin. However it seems that a dopamine reuptake inhibitor could do the same thing for cocaine addiction that methadone did for opium addiction. Methadone provides a steady increase in opioid levels and blocks off the receptor that morphine needs to have a biological effect on the body. Drugs like wellbutrin provide a steady increase dopamine levels and block off the receptor that cocaine or methamphetamine needs to have a biological effect on the body.
Wesley Clark, thanks for your clarifications. Your original GQ OP did not allude to “scientific studies on wellbutrin as a treatment for cocaine addiction” or “All I wanted were scientific papers”.
Your second OP on the subject is much better worded, and makes clear what you are looking for. It shall be allowed in GQ.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
And now that we’ve addressed the central question of the OP, let’s consider this point.
You make a good point, however you must understand that mods often need to make subjective judgements on how likely it is for information in any thread to be put to illegal use. The likelihood of medical information being put to inappropriate use is much higher than the likelihood of one of our members committing genocide.
The balance of what we allow and do not allow is delicate, and allows in some cases for members to discuss potentially illegal topics, while in other cases leads us to shut down interesting discussions that might in some specific circumstances be illegal. We try to use our common sense and keep the balance fair and consistent, while at the same time enforcing the rules of the boards.
Just to be clear, this generic reference to illegal behaviour is US-oriented, isn’t it? As I understand it, personal use quantities of cocaine are legal in some South American countries.
Essentially, yes.
Quoting again from the rules (You can read our rules for yourself by clicking on the “rules” hyperlink at the top of the page):
How it goes in other countries does not figure into our moderator decisions, as we are owned by a U.S.-based company.
TubaDiva
Not to flog a deceased equine, and if staff chooses not to deal with the question, I’ll totally understand, but your comment above leads me to an obvious corollary:
Supposing a member from another country asked for advice on how to safely do something legal in that country but illegal in most or all of the U.S., specifying clearly that such action was legal where he lived, and he was asking for advice from a safety standpoint.
My initial reaction would be that such a post would be legitimate, as asking for advice on how to safely do something that the OP can do legally. But my second reaction would be that it would “tend to promote activity illegal in the U.S.”, even though the OP would be able to do it legally, and it would be closed. (Of course my third reaction would be that saying either first or second reaction would be junior modding, and I’d simply report it for staff decision.) But given that scenario, would you care to comment how you would handle it?
To make it more interesting, suppose that the poster is a registered medical marijuana user in California.
I didn’t know any such thing was Federally recognized.
(See what kind of can of worms this all is?)
And furthermore, let us suppose that the legislature from the poster’s country is currently debating a bill that would make this behaviour illegal,and the vote on the bill is supposed to happen in the next 24 hours, which means the staff doesn’t have a lot of time to allow the poster’s question before the deadline, so you need to decide right now? What would the answer be? Huh? Huh? 
But seriously, to answer your question, Polycarp, I would think that if it’s illegal in the US the question would not be allowed. This is a US-centered board.
In addition to all that, it requires the Staff to check and confirm that the Member really was from the country that they claimed they were from, and whether or not they’re using a proxy server, etc, etc, and we all remember how many people don’t want that to happen, right? Right?
~
People keep trying to forge the SDMB into something it’s not. Take the best that it has to offer, and if that’s not enough than work the communities outside (like MagicBoard, Fathom, and LJ) where lots of good people here hang out and can likely help.
Oh, you are too modest!
TubaDiva
