Drugs are a fascinating and very significant applied area of chemistry, so I don't mind their discussion here so long as it takes place correctly.
There is no legal pressure that can be applied to this site to stifle discussion of drug chemistry. The real danger of allowing more drug discussion
is that lazy people who are interested only in production will come here wanting to be spoonfed. People who want "someone [to] help swim with the p2p
synthesis."
There are lazy people who will ask to be spoonfed about any topic, but illegal drugs pose a special risk to quality discussion because they are not
openly available to be purchased by people with no interest in chemistry. Someone could show up here and ask a lazy question about how to make
acetaminophen or chlorpheniramine, but even then they'd have to be somewhat interested in process rather than product, because if they want product
they can just buy a bottle of tablets for $5 at the nearest supermarket. When it comes to strictly controlled drugs, though, we have the substantial
group of people who want information not because they are initially interested in process or mechanism but because it may seem the best way to obtain
low-cost products for personal use or for sale. Even then such persons can become worthwhile members (how many adolescents started learning about
chemistry just as an enabler to fireworks-production?), but if we tolerate lazy questions on any topic, much less one with such strong motivators
behind it, the board will suffer. It turns out that the price of liberty really is eternal (moderator) vigilance. |
