Erowid.org, also called The Vaults of Erowid, is an online library of information about psychoactive plants and chemicals and other activities such as meditation and lucid dreaming. It provides information about legal and illegal substances, including their desired and adverse effects. The site is organized by substance, ranging from common substances like alcohol, to unusual ones such as Bromo-DragonFLY.

The information on the site is gathered from diverse sources including published literature, experts in related fields, and the experiences of the general public. Erowid acts as a publisher of new information as well as a library for the collection of documents and images published elsewhere.

Organizational history

Erowid was founded in April 1995; the Erowid.org website appeared six months later. Since January 1, 2008, it has operated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization under the name Erowid Center.

The organization is supported by donations, and its website is free of advertisements. Although its primary focus is on the website, Erowid also provides research and data for other harm reduction, health, and educational organizations.

Erowid can also refer to Fire Erowid and Earth Erowid, the pseudonyms of the two creators of the site. Both work full-time on the project, along with speaking at conferences, producing original research, and contributing to entheogenic research.

According to the site, the creators' vision includes creating a "world where people treat psychoactives with respect and awareness; where people work together to collect and share knowledge in ways that strengthen their understanding of themselves and provide insight into the complex choices faced by individuals and societies alike." Erowid Center's mission is to archive and disseminate independent accurate information. According to one study, this mission has largely been successful.

The organization is based in northern California and the main servers are located in San Francisco.

Online library

The library contains over 50,000 documents related to psychoactives, including images, research summaries and abstracts, faqs, media articles, experience reports, information on chemistry, dosage, effects, law, health, traditional and spiritual use, and drug testing. Over 55,000 people visit the site each day (Nov 2008).

The site generally contains more detail in the pages listed under plants and chemicals than other sections. It does not have comprehensive information about the specific effects of most pharmaceuticals. Such information may appear elsewhere on the site, where one can read about people's individual reactions to various drugs.

Erowid allows visitors to submit their own personal experiences with psychoactive substances for review and possible publication. The site states that they welcome all perspectives regarding personal psychoactive experience, including positive, negative and neutral.

Projects

Erowid also co-sponsors and manages EcstasyData.org, an American street-ecstasy testing project. Tablets of street ecstasy can be anonymously submitted to a DEA licensed laboratory for testing and then photos of the tablets and GC/MS test results are published on the project's website. EcstasyData has published testing results for more than 1,000 tablets. Testing costs have sometimes been covered by project funding (when available) and at other times are covered by those who submit tablets for testing. Erowid took over management of this project in July 2001 and co-sponsors it along with MAPS and DanceSafe.

Criticisms and controversies

Due to the controversial subject matter presented on Erowid.org, the site has drawn praise and criticism from both the media and medical officials. American physician and broadcaster Dean Edell often recommends Erowid to listeners interested in learning about drugs and drug use. On the other hand, Edward Boyer, an emergency-room physician and toxicologist, while admitting that Erowid has a plethora of useful information, argued the site may cause more harm than good to potential drug users. "Though Boyer has since come to cautiously admire Earth and Fire, and no longer refers to their site as 'partisan,' he still argues that Erowid minimizes adverse effects and includes too much dodgy — and potentially harmful — data in its quest to present all sides. 'Erowid is so comprehensive, and so much of the information is correct, that unless you're an expert in medical toxicology you may miss the dangerous information that's close to the surface.'"

Erowid.org is currently blocked by Websense filters as "Inappropriate Content." It is also blocked by school web-filters Bess, iPrism, Lightspeed, and SmartFilter as "Drugs".

See also

• Empathogen-entactogen
• Entheogen
• Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants
• Responsible drug use

References

1. Erowid F. "Erowid: 10 Years of History." Erowid Extracts. Jun 2005;8:12-14.
2. Erowid:About Us
3. Murguia E, Tackett-Gibson M, Lessem A. "Real Drugs in a Virtual World: Drug Discourse and Community Online". Lexington Books. 2007.
4. Erowid FAQ: Where Is Erowid Located?
5. Erowid. "The Distillation." Erowid Extracts. Jun 2008;14:22-25.
6. EcstasyData: About EcstasyData.org
7. EcstasyData: Summary Statistics for EcstasyData.org Lab Testing Results
8. Davis E. "Don't Get High Without It". LA Weekly. Apr 30, 2004.
9. Erowid: Silent Censorship?

External links

• Erowid.org
• Erowid Experience Vaults
• The LA Weekly's feature on Erowid
• Lycaeum, a similar website