Maximum - Jackson closed by domain owner.

[kindofdisco]

You see, with all due respect I disagree with that. I think MJ is the best entertainer/singer ever, but I also enjoy discussing things like why I don't like the HIStory tour.

Tony! Miss your face and miss your discussions, dude. The board became less awesome when you and LS weren't around any more.

 

[Ms.MJ Fan2007]

Well I was like on the gourp of Maximum-Jackson on facebook & they've annoced it that it was closed. OMG :bugeyed but to me I've never been on Max-Jax for a while until they've made annocement it's so sad it's messed up.

 

[tidus72000]

so any new news from the Max Jax founders??? any updates??? or it just ended????

 

[BUMPER SNIPPET]

so any new news from the Max Jax founders??? any updates??? or it just ended????

If I am not mistaken the forum on that domain is for sale.

 

[BUMPER SNIPPET]

What makes you say this,

This post:

I'm new here, and I registered because I've heard a lot about MJJC and how active it is. I'm going to make a point of posting more and trying to get to know my way around.

I'm Greg's fiancée, Christina. I just wanted to say that it's been nice to read the support that Greg has been getting from the majority of you in this thread. The decision he came to was not an easy one to make. Just to clarify, it is my understanding that the forum has not closed down forever, it just needs to be pointed to another domain (that anyone still interested in running the site can purchase easily). It's just that Greg no longer wanted to be associated with the site and felt like in order to remove his name from the door, so to speak, he wanted to do this.

I'm sure if there is a determination for MaxJax to be back up, then it will be - and good luck to them. I wish them all the best. Let's hope if it does come back in some way, shape or form, there will be a change for the better.

The most important thing in all of this is Michael and doing right by him.

 

[BUMPER SNIPPET]

Ahhh no, thats not what their implying,

Basically Greg has taken back his domain, he has changed the dns nameservers from where the max jax files (forum) are hosted and pointed it to his own, effectively leaving the max files in a void, all it now means is PD has to now go and buy his own domain and point it back to the max jax files. thats where they are referring to the term purchase.

Whether he does or not is based on him missing treating people like he does or that big ole leader ego of his.

Ok, I stand corrected. I thought they were looking for a buyer. Lol @ your last sentence.

 

[angel2]

...... that would be VERY sad if MaxJax is opened up again by the very person / people who were the downfall of it.

I think they need to realise this and take a quiet dignified departure ... or drastically change their management style which I doubt they can.

The damage is done and many of us were hurt.

Smooth I hope realises this .... and gets MaxJax up and running again with a fresh positive and motivating team or sells it to somebody with the right motives.

Takes the ban off everybody and let's the MJ captives free.

If MaxJax is not saved .... a forum containing a fabulous body of MJ HIStory contributed by excellent MJ fans is lost.

Is it not enough that we have lost the man .... now this?

 

[MJelboo]

...... that would be VERY sad if MaxJax is opened up again by the very person / people who were the downfall of it.

I think they need to realise this and take a quiet dignified departure ... or drastically change their management style which I doubt they can.

The damage is done and many of us were hurt.

Smooth I hope realises this .... and gets MaxJax up and running again with a fresh positive and motivating team or sells it to somebody with the right motives.

Takes the ban off everybody and let's the MJ captives free.

If MaxJax is not saved .... a forum containing a fabulous body of MJ HIStory contributed by excellent MJ fans is lost.

Is it not enough that we have lost the man .... now this?

You are right… if the place reopens and the people that caused its demise are still there and haven't changed, I can't see it going well. I hope they do learn their lesson from all this and take it in stride.

 

[Tony R]

Hahahaha, moodmods!!! The music threads, especially. There was a Duran Duran thread up that I miss.

I wasn't saying mainly the founders - there were regular posters more so (why I bolded that). Those people know who they are and it wasn't anyone mentioned above. You, Tony, you were one of the great posters there if I remember right, and with Little Steven too.

Hi Tony R,Glad to see you back. You raised a good point. I also feel the term "hater" is being used too liberally. Btw, your reviews of Dangerous is still one of the most best and spot-on I have ever read.

Tony! Miss your face and miss your discussions, dude. The board became less awesome when you and LS weren't around any more.

Cheers Muckers.

It was a great few months while it lasted.

The Gardening thread anyone?

 

[krystikel]

Hey all. I am still on vacation in LA but tonight I finally found time to catch up in this thread as well as to read communications from my fellow MaxJax team members. After reading things posted here, I wanted to make a post myself to attempt to clarify a few things. Obviously, at this point in time, I can't go into much detail but there are things I feel that I need to say. I will try to keep this as short as possible, but it will still be lengthy, so bear with me.

From reading this thread I have some things in mind that seem to be the main things people have spoken about. They are: complaints about bans, complaints against PG/Gary, complaints about MJ being called an addict. Other things were spoken about, but those three things are the ones that have stuck in my mind due to how often they were mentioned so those are the things I will speak of for now.

I shall start with the bans. It's MaxJax policy to not speak specifically of any bans because of privacy issues. Despite the fact that the board is down and I am not entirely sure of its future (we are discussing all of that), I still feel that I should not go into details about any specific person's ban. Therefore, I won't mention names but I will set out some of the scenarios that we had encountered. These scenarios don't apply to all of the bans mentioned in this thread but a few are relevant (don't ask me to be specific about names and any speculation posted won't be confirmed/denied by me), and hopefully it will give some insight into what the team had to face when it came to the entire ban situation.

Many of you, especially those who were members there, know about the infractions system we implemented. If a rule was broken then we issued an infraction. Each infraction had a point value and an expiration date (from days to never). Once the accrued active infractions points reached 60, then the system automatically issued a permanent ban (there were temporary bans leading up to the permanent one, depending on the points for each infraction). Because we keep reasons for infractions and bans private on our side, it's very easy for banned members to claim they were banned for no reason at all or for reasons that they feel were unjust/unfair.

However, when we have members who are intentionally breaking rules and receiving infractions for the offenses, who are told that if they continue the behavior they will be banned... and they keep on doing the exact same things repeatedly and intentionally, what choice are we left with? It isn't like they weren't warned. They were warned, and they made the conscious decision to continue doing the things that they knew would get them banned. Were we supposed to let that go? Should we have let them walk all over us that way without any repercussion? Would it have been reasonable for us to not issue infractions for these things? If we did, then we'd have to let other things slide for other members. Where do we draw the line then? It's hard enough to find that line without having to try to find that line and also allow more leniency for people who choose to intentionally continue breaking rules after being told the consequences. It's like telling school children that they cannot break the rules, but it's ok for only John Doe and Jane Doe to break the rules 4 times before they will be punished. You just can't do that.

Other things that could cause infractions are private messages that are clearly disrespectful. If someone chooses to PM another member and use vulgar, nasty language in an intentionally offensive manner, then yes - they would receive an infraction for that. (It makes no difference if the member they PM is a team member or a regular member. Regular members had the choice to report PMs to make the team aware of the situation.) If they continue to send PMs in the same manner, then yes - they will receive another infraction. These can quickly add up to a permanent ban. This is something that is completely invisible to regular members and the banned person can easily claim they did nothing wrong, because the team will not speak of why the ban happened.

These are just two examples of the sorts of things we had to deal with, and as I said, they don't necessarily cover all the banned members mentioned in this thread and I'm not going to be any more specific on things. Also, keep in mind that bans happened for many other reasons other than what I just spoke of. These are just a couple examples that I hope people can use to get a feeling for the things we were up against at times. We didn't like to ban people. I actually hated the process, but it's a necessary evil in running a board. Some people that I got along with very well and felt were friends of mine ended up being banned. Some of the bans were very upsetting for me, so much so that a couple times I was near tears from frustration and hurt due to the situations. However, it wasn't something I could change. It was basically out of my hands and in the hands of the member.

Now for PG/Gary. He seems to be the one being mentioned the most as far as issues people have had with members of the team, and I have to honestly say that I can understand somewhat where some people are coming from. It's not a secret among my MJ pals that when I first joined MaxJax I almost left within a few days because of something he said to me. (I don't even recall what it was anymore, but I do remember the feeling I felt.) However, I decided to stick it out - my line of thinking was "Why should I let some 'rude guy' run me off so quickly?" I got to know the other team members and their personalities, and I got to know Gary better. He is a very blunt person who will definitely state his opinion and thoughts (even if it's probably best for him to stay quiet). He doesn't let emotion play a part of what he posts - it's kept very clinical, for lack of a better word. Quite often his opinion comes across as fact - sometimes it can be proven to be fact, other times it can't be. I'm not afraid to call him out on that when it happens. And yes... he definitely can be very condescending at times.

Before I say anything more, I want to make it perfectly clear that I'm typing this very matter-of-factly. I'm not bashing him. The things I just stated are simply how he is. I've known it for a long time, but that doesn't stop me from arguing (privately) with him at times, nor does it stop me from being flabbergasted with some of his posts. Knowing how a person is and dealing with them or what they say are two completely different things, and it can be very difficult to remain calm sometimes.

I do want to emphasize that Gary is most definitely a fan of Michael's. Some comments made here indicate that people seem to think he's not. He is, without a doubt. He is very knowledgeable about Michael's career and some of the things he has posted have been very fascinating to read. He admires Michael's accomplishments, and he accepts Michael's flaws - sometimes too much when it comes to posting about them in a thread that was meant for happier things. I respect him greatly when it comes to his love for Michael and it's something that I never doubt.

I don't want to go on too long about him, mainly because I don't like to talk about people this way. I know he can see it and I'm not hiding anything from him, but I feel like I'm talking behind his back. I know many people have strong feelings of dislike for him or his attitude and I'm not aiming to change any feelings. I just wanted to make sure people know that he is indeed a huge fan of Michael's but that the way he comes across online is just simply the way he is. No excuses or anything, just fact.

Now... Michael and the term 'addict.' For me, it depends on how you perceive things. Many people consider an addiction to be a dependency, and vice versa. The two words are even listed as synonyms in Merriam Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/addiction If someone wants to go into great detail and compare the two terms, then the situation will become more muddled. However, can someone clarify for me the depth of his prescription drug use back in '93? Was he only using the necessary amount for the pain he was feeling, or was he using the drugs to also dull the emotional pain he was experiencing due to the allegations? Also, can someone explain how it's only a dependency and not an addiction (for those who view the two terms differently) when a person has multiple prescriptions under names not their own? These are just two examples of the types of things that make people think 'addiction' and not just 'dependency.' There are also the views of the term addict as in currently addicted or addict as in a recovered addict - someone who was previously addicted but has broken the cycle of the addiction and is no longer addicted. Add to all that the stigma of the title "addict." It's most commonly used to describe a junkie - someone addicted to illegal street drugs. However, it can also describe someone who is/was addicted to legal prescription drugs. I can understand Michael's fans being upset at the thought of him being grouped with the street junkies. It really can be a very touchy topic since people view things so differently. I myself have said that Michael was an addict because of how I view addiction and dependency. However, I never meant it to be disrespectful and it most certainly does not mean that I am not a fan or that I don't love and respect him. If that was the case then I wouldn't be in LA right now. This trip started as a weekend vacation for the Cirque show and grew into a 16 day vacation where the first 9 days contained a LOT of MJ-related activities (Forest Lawn, Neverland, Hayvenhurst, the Thriller filming locations, 1880 Union Hotel where Say, Say, Say was filmed, Cirque, the event at Grauman's, etc).

Ok, it's now 2am Pacific time, which is nearly 5am my normal time, so I am shutting up to go get some sleep. I feel like a zombie, but I wanted to get this post done while things were fresh in my mind. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about things, but I am trying to offer a bit more info to hopefully make some things more clear. There are a few more things I would like to touch on, but sleep is needed so I will get to those things later. I'll try to check in again during the next couple days but if I can't then I definitely will next week once I am home and back in my normal routine. Tomorrow, or I guess today since it's 2am, is my daughter's 5th birthday and we will be at Disneyland all day. It should be a blast!

 

[The Healer]

Krystikel , your post is very eloquent. That is understandable , because Max is your favourite board.
But there was a time when even you were not nice to me when we talked about Michael"s love-life. It is not just we did not agree , but you said some harsh words.
There are a lot of ppl who told their experiences and we are not lying.
Drug addiction is a strong word and it was taken lightly. Don"t know how many times I said that I don"t think of Michael as a saint. He had problems in life like we all do. That only made me love him and understand him more.
There was a thread called " Is Michael Jackson a reppressed homosexual ? " on Max. Well....
I said that Michael was a normal man. I was attacked by a second like I said that homosexulas are not normal...and it went on and on. No matter how insulted I was by that statement , certain members did not stop , and made me look ignorant , which I am not. My best friend was gay and I loved him so much.
That is just part of the atmosphere.

 

[BUMPER SNIPPET]

I shall start with the bans. It's MaxJax policy to not speak specifically of any bans because of privacy issues. Despite the fact that the board is down and I am not entirely sure of its future (we are discussing all of that), I still feel that I should not go into details about any specific person's ban. Therefore, I won't mention names but I will set out some of the scenarios that we had encountered. These scenarios don't apply to all of the bans mentioned in this thread but a few are relevant (don't ask me to be specific about names and any speculation posted won't be confirmed/denied by me), and hopefully it will give some insight into what the team had to face when it came to the entire ban situation.

Many of you, especially those who were members there, know about the infractions system we implemented. If a rule was broken then we issued an infraction.

Hello Krystikel, welcome to MJJC. I don't know if you remember me, but I was among those who were banned and who tried to know why. We spoke via e-mail about it and at that time you weren't aware of the reason of my ban either.

Anyway, the issue is: what was "infraction" at Max-Jax? When I posted a joke, I got a ban. When Pentum jokingly posted a picture of Malachi he got a ban. When Lucilla asked why she was banned, ther'e was no answer. And many more witnessed things here that were nowhere to be seen written anywhere in the rules at Max-Jax.

Each infraction had a point value and an expiration date (from days to never). Once the accrued active infractions points reached 60, then the system automatically issued a permanent ban (there were temporary bans leading up to the permanent one, depending on the points for each infraction). Because we keep reasons for infractions and bans private on our side, it's very easy for banned members to claim they were banned for no reason at all or for reasons that they feel were unjust/unfair.

The rules also clearly stipulated that the founders could be flexible when it came to certain situations. I personally didn't witness any kind of flexibility, just all or nothing rules with life-bannings. I mean, do you realize what does that mean? It's like getting a life sentece for defending our opinion of the man we love. Moderating is not only about systems automatically issuing permanent bans, moderating is also talking to people and trying to understand their point of view, like you and I did via e-mail, but unlike any of the founders did who were as unreachable to talk to as if they were some kind of gods and not fellow fans.

However, when we have members who are intentionally breaking rules and receiving infractions for the offenses, who are told that if they continue the behavior they will be banned... and they keep on doing the exact same things repeatedly and intentionally, what choice are we left with? It isn't like they weren't warned. They were warned, and they made the conscious decision to continue doing the things that they knew would get them banned. Were we supposed to let that go? Should we have let them walk all over us that way without any repercussion? Would it have been reasonable for us to not issue infractions for these things? If we did, then we'd have to let other things slide for other members. Where do we draw the line then? It's hard enough to find that line without having to try to find that line and also allow more leniency for people who choose to intentionally continue breaking rules after being told the consequences. It's like telling school children that they cannot break the rules, but it's ok for only John Doe and Jane Doe to break the rules 4 times before they will be punished. You just can't do that.

Yes, where do we draw the line? Take a look at PG's four posts on the first page of this very thread, and tell me, where do we draw the line? He got so used to insult people on Max-Jax so often, that he dragged his ego issues on this very thread as a fellow MJ fan calling another fellow MJ fan a coward three times, and criticizing his grammar. What we are supposed to do? Let it go? He did it daily practically in every single post in the Cascio thread on Max-Jax, yet he was the one banning people for disrespecting the rules? I am sorry, but if one of the founders is unable to observe the forum's rules, then the line to draw becomes extremely selective by those who have the power to ban or unban the MJ fans.

Now for PG/Gary. He seems to be the one being mentioned the most as far as issues people have had with members of the team, and I have to honestly say that I can understand somewhat where some people are coming from. It's not a secret among my MJ pals that when I first joined MaxJax I almost left within a few days because of something he said to me. (I don't even recall what it was anymore, but I do remember the feeling I felt.) However, I decided to stick it out - my line of thinking was "Why should I let some 'rude guy' run me off so quickly?" I got to know the other team members and their personalities, and I got to know Gary better. He is a very blunt person who will definitely state his opinion and thoughts (even if it's probably best for him to stay quiet). He doesn't let emotion play a part of what he posts - it's kept very clinical, for lack of a better word. Quite often his opinion comes across as fact - sometimes it can be proven to be fact, other times it can't be. I'm not afraid to call him out on that when it happens. And yes... he definitely can be very condescending at times.

Before I say anything more, I want to make it perfectly clear that I'm typing this very matter-of-factly. I'm not bashing him. The things I just stated are simply how he is. I've known it for a long time, but that doesn't stop me from arguing (privately) with him at times, nor does it stop me from being flabbergasted with some of his posts. Knowing how a person is and dealing with them or what they say are two completely different things, and it can be very difficult to remain calm sometimes.

I do want to emphasize that Gary is most definitely a fan of Michael's. Some comments made here indicate that people seem to think he's not. He is, without a doubt. He is very knowledgeable about Michael's career and some of the things he has posted have been very fascinating to read. He admires Michael's accomplishments, and he accepts Michael's flaws - sometimes too much when it comes to posting about them in a thread that was meant for happier things. I respect him greatly when it comes to his love for Michael and it's something that I never doubt.

I don't want to go on too long about him, mainly because I don't like to talk about people this way. I know he can see it and I'm not hiding anything from him, but I feel like I'm talking behind his back. I know many people have strong feelings of dislike for him or his attitude and I'm not aiming to change any feelings. I just wanted to make sure people know that he is indeed a huge fan of Michael's but that the way he comes across online is just simply the way he is. No excuses or anything, just fact.

I am sorry, but this does sound like some kind of excuse or empathy.

Whether PG is a MJ fan or not is not an issue. Whether he can be like this or like that is not the issue either. Everyone has their own personality, qualities and flaws. And frankly speaking, people are not criticizing PG for who he is, nor many probably do care as a matter of fact, unless they are friends with him.

People are criticizing PG for what he did. And what did he do? Actions speak for themselves. Poor management of the forum by being unable to deal with the forum members who disagreed with his way of doing or thinking, ignoring some posts addressed to him, constant insults, silencing by banning, not replying to e-mails from those who were banned, posting arrogant posts, posts with such an ego that if there was a competition to win an award for expressing it, he'd win it.

Again, I am sending you back to the first page of this thread to read what he says about Greg (I am paraphrasing): "coward who refuses to be a man, coward, coward, ...writing with awful grammar." How would you personally feel if he treated you like that, and at the same time having the power to ban you if you reply something back?

I am sorry, nothing, no similar ego, no contextual bahavior, can be tolerated on any MJ fan board, so nothing can excuse his. It's not because some people know him that he should be excused for his arrogant posts.

For heaven's sake, PG was so rude to one of the MJ fan members on Max-Jax that instead of issuing him a warning another moderator excused PG's behavior by saying "well, his name is Pompous, not Genereous" or something along those lines. In another post Killer Queen said "I can't believe he just said that" as a reaction to PG's post, yet again no warning, no banning. Total freedom --not of speech- but of arrogance with other people. Yet other people get banned for merely posting an innocent joke.

I am sorry, but nothing will convince me he did a good job on Max-Jax, he's behavior is unexcusable and each time this John PG Doe got away unpunished by his teachers because he thought he was above the rules, just as his four first posts prove it on this thread, not to mention what he said about MJ. Read what Ivy's copy-pasted quoted post.

Now... Michael and the term 'addict.' For me, it depends on how you perceive things. Many people consider an addiction to be a dependency, and vice versa. The two words are even listed as synonyms in Merriam Webster: http://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/addiction If someone wants to go into great detail and compare the two terms, then the situation will become more muddled. However, can someone clarify for me the depth of his prescription drug use back in '93? Was he only using the necessary amount for the pain he was feeling, or was he using the drugs to also dull the emotional pain he was experiencing due to the allegations? Also, can someone explain how it's only a dependency and not an addiction (for those who view the two terms differently) when a person has multiple prescriptions under names not their own? These are just two examples of the types of things that make people think 'addiction' and not just 'dependency.' There are also the views of the term addict as in currently addicted or addict as in a recovered addict - someone who was previously addicted but has broken the cycle of the addiction and is no longer addicted. Add to all that the stigma of the title "addict." It's most commonly used to describe a junkie - someone addicted to illegal street drugs. However, it can also describe someone who is/was addicted to legal prescription drugs. I can understand Michael's fans being upset at the thought of him being grouped with the street junkies. It really can be a very touchy topic since people view things so differently. I myself have said that Michael was an addict because of how I view addiction and dependency. However, I never meant it to be disrespectful and it most certainly does not mean that I am not a fan or that I don't love and respect him. If that was the case then I wouldn't be in LA right now. This trip started as a weekend vacation for the Cirque show and grew into a 16 day vacation where the first 9 days contained a LOT of MJ-related activities (Forest Lawn, Neverland, Hayvenhurst, the Thriller filming locations, 1880 Union Hotel where Say, Say, Say was filmed, Cirque, the event at Grauman's, etc).

Calling Michael addicted is not the same as dependent. There is no such thing as perfect synonyms in the English language. So what you've read in Merriam Webster is a (quasi-)synonym.

For further info:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001522.htm


Drug dependence
Drug dependence means that a person needs a drug to function normally. Abruptly stopping the drug leads to withdrawal symptoms. Drug addiction is the compulsive use of a substance, despite its negative or dangerous effects.

A person may have a physical dependence on a substance without having an addiction. For example, certain blood pressure medications do not cause addiction but they can cause physical dependence. Other drugs, such as cocaine, cause addiction without leading to physical dependence.

Tolerance to a drug (needing a higher dose to attain the same effect) is usually part of addiction.

See also:


Drug abuse can lead to drug dependence or addiction. People who use drugs for pain relief may become dependent, although this is rare in those who don't have a history of addiction.

The exact cause of drug abuse and dependence is not known. However, a person's genes, the action of the drug, peer pressure, emotional distress, anxiety, depression, and environmental stress all can be factors.

Peer pressure can lead to drug use or abuse, but at least half of those who become addicted have depression, attention deficit disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or another mental health problem.

Children who grow up in an environment of illicit drug use may first see their parents using drugs. This may put them at a higher risk for developing an addiction later in life for both environmental and genetic reasons.

People who are more likely to abuse or become dependent on drugs include those who:

Have depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia
Have easy access to drugs
Have low self-esteem, or problems with relationships
Live a stressful lifestyle, economic or emotional
Live in a culture where there is a high social acceptance of drug use
Commonly abused substances include:

Opiates and narcotics are powerful painkillers that cause drowsiness (sedation) and sometimes feelings of euphoria. These include heroin, opium, codeine, meperidine (Demerol), hydromorphone (Dilaudid), and oxycodone (Oxycontin).
Central nervous system (CNS) stimulants include amphetamines, cocaine, dextroamphetamine, methamphetamine, and methylphenidate (Ritalin). These drugs have a stimulating effect, and people can start needing higher amounts of these drugs to feel the same effect (tolerance).
Central nervous system depressants include alcohol, barbiturates (amobarbital, pentobarbital, secobarbital), benzodiazepines (Valium, Ativan, Xanax), chloral hydrate, and paraldehyde. These substances produce a sedative and anxiety-reducing effect, which can lead to dependence.
Hallucinogens include LSD, mescaline, psilocybin ("mushrooms"), and phencyclidine (PCP or "angel dust"). They can cause people to see things that aren't there (hallucinations) and can lead to psychological dependence.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active ingredient found in marijuana (cannabis) and hashish.
There are several stages of drug use that may lead to dependence. Young people seem to move more quickly through the stages than do adults.

Experimental use -- typically involves peers, done for recreational use; the user may enjoy defying parents or other authority figures.
Regular use -- the user misses more and more school or work; worries about losing drug source; uses drugs to "fix" negative feelings; begins to stay away from friends and family; may change friends to those who are regular users; shows increased tolerance and ability to "handle" the drug.
Daily preoccupation -- the user loses any motivation; does not care about school and work; has obvious behavior changes; thinking about drug use is more important than all other interests, including relationships; the user becomes secretive; may begin dealing drugs to help support habit; use of other, harder drugs may increase; legal problems may increase.
Dependence -- cannot face daily life without drugs; denies problem; physical condition gets worse; loss of "control" over use; may become suicidal; financial and legal problems get worse; may have broken ties with family members or friends.
Symptoms
Some of the symptoms and behaviors of drug dependence include:

Confusion
Continuing to use drugs even when health, work, or family are being harmed
Episodes of violence
Hostility when confronted about drug dependence
Lack of control over drug abuse - being unable to stop or reduce alcohol intake
Making excuses to use drugs
Missing work or school, or a decrease in performance
Need for daily or regular drug use to function
Neglecting to eat
Not caring for physical appearance
No longer taking part in activities because of drug abuse
Secretive behavior to hide drug use
Using drugs even when alone
See: Drug abuse for more information about symptoms that may be present when using these drugs.

For information about symptoms of withdrawal, see also:

Cocaine withdrawal
Opiate withdrawal
Exams and Tests
Drug tests (toxicology screens) on blood and urine samples can show many chemicals and drugs in the body. How sensitive the test is depends upon the drug itself, when the drug was taken, and the testing laboratory. Blood tests are more likely to find a drug than urine tests. However, urine drug screens are done more often.

Opiates and narcotics are usually in the urine 12 to 36 hours after the last use, depending on the amount used and how often the drug was used.

CNS stimulants such as cocaine can be found in urine for 1 to 12 days, again depending on how often the drug was used.

CNS depressants such as Valium and Xanax are found up to 7 days after the last day of use, mostly depending on the substance used and how quickly the body removes it (its half-life).

Most hallucinogens also can be found in the urine up to 7 days after the last use. However, evidence of marijuana can be found for up to 28 days after its last use in regular users.

Treatment
Treatment for drug abuse or dependence begins with recognizing the problem. Though "denial" used to be considered a symptom of addiction, recent research has shown that people who are addicted have far less denial if they are treated with empathy and respect, rather than told what to do or "confronted."

Treatment of drug dependency involves stopping drug use either gradually or abruptly (detoxification), support, and staying drug free (abstinence).

People with acute intoxication or drug overdose may need emergency treatment. Sometimes, the person loses consciousness and might need to be on a breathing machine (mechanical respirator) temporarily. The treatment depends on the drug being used.
Detoxification is the withdrawal of an abused substance in a controlled environment. Sometimes a drug with a similar action is taken instead, to reduce the side effects and risks of withdrawal. Detoxification can be done on an inpatient or outpatient basis.
As with any other area of medicine, the least intensive treatment should be the starting point.

Residential treatment programs monitor and address possible withdrawal symptoms and behaviors. These programs use behavior modification techniques, which are designed to get users to recognize their behaviors.

Treatment programs include counseling, both for the person (and perhaps family), and in group settings. Drug abuse treatment programs have a long after-care part (when the user is released from the medical facility), and provide peer support.

Drug addiction is a serious and complicated health condition that requires both physical and psycholocial treatment and support. It is important to be evaluated by a trained professional to determine the best care.

If the person also has depression or another mood disorder, it should be treated. Very often, people start abusing drugs in their effort to self-treat mental illness.

For narcotic dependence, some people are treated with methadone or similar drugs to prevent withdrawal and abuse. The goal is to enable the person to live as normal a life as possible.

Support Groups
Many support groups are available in the community. They include Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Ala-Teen, and Al-Anon. Most of these groups follow the 12-Step program used in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). SMART Recovery and LifeRing Recovery are programs that do not use the 12-step approach. You can find support groups in your phone book.

Outlook (Prognosis)
Drug abuse and dependence may lead to a fatal drug overdose. Some people start taking the drugs again after they have stopped. Relapses can lead to continued dependence.

Possible Complications
The complications of drug abuse and dependence include:

Bacterial endocarditis, hepatitis, thrombophlebitis, pulmonary emboli, malnutrition, or respiratory infections, caused by drug use by injection
Depression
Drug overdose
Increase in various cancer rates; for example, lung and pharynx cancer are linked to nicotine use; mouth and stomach cancer are associated with alcohol abuse and dependence
Infection with HIV through shared needles
Problems with memory and concentration, for example with hallucinogen use, including marijuana (THC)
Problems with the law
Relapse of drug abuse
Unsafe sexual practices, which may result in unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, or hepatitis
When to Contact a Medical Professional
Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you are addicted to drugs and would like to get off of them, or if you have been cut off from your drug supply and are at risk of withdrawal. Most employers also offer referral services for their employees with substance abuse problems.

Prevention
Drug education programs may be helpful though none has proved effective in the long term.

Alternative Names
Drug addiction; Addiction - drug; Dependence on drugs

References
Kleber HD, Weiss Rd, Anton RF, George TP, Greenfield SF, Kosten TR, et al. Treatment of patients with substance use disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2007;164:5-123.

Griswold KS, Atronoff H, Kernan JB, Kahn LS. Adolescent substance use and abuse: recognition and management. Am Fam Physician. 2008;77:331-336.

NIDA InfoFacts: Club Drugs (GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol). National Institute on Drug Abuse NIDA.

NIDA InfoFacts: Hallucinogens - LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA. Revised 6/09.

Samet JH. Drug abuse and dependence. In: Goldman L, Ausiello D, eds. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2007:chap 32.

Update Date: 2/11/2010
Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

Ok, it's now 2am Pacific time, which is nearly 5am my normal time, so I am shutting up to go get some sleep. I feel like a zombie, but I wanted to get this post done while things were fresh in my mind. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about things, but I am trying to offer a bit more info to hopefully make some things more clear. There are a few more things I would like to touch on, but sleep is needed so I will get to those things later. I'll try to check in again during the next couple days but if I can't then I definitely will next week once I am home and back in my normal routine. Tomorrow, or I guess today since it's 2am, is my daughter's 5th birthday and we will be at Disneyland all day. It should be a blast!

Have a nice holiday and happy birthday to your daughter!!! Say hello to Mickey from me

 

[angel2]

Excellent post Bumper Snippet :clap:

"It's like getting a life sentece for defending our opinion of the man we love.
Moderating is not only about systems automatically issuing permanent bans, moderating is also talking to people and trying to understand their point of view."

EXCELLENT!

.... that's all I feel Krystikel.

Being picked on continuelly by you and ******** was awful!

If you think your infraction system was fair it proves our point!!!!

 

[Korgnex]

I happen to be one of the people they "gossip and trash" continously. I'm one of their preferred targets since "Upside" has made sure people think of me as a "Sony spy". When I sent a PM to a member requesting why he ridiculed me yesterday without me saying anything about him, I didn't get a reply. Tells me how much respect I'm getting from a lot of fans that are falling for these pathetic lies.

I want to say that there are a few exceptions - two of them who I want to point out are "Bumper Snippet" and "Pentum" (who is no longer friends with "Upside") - who have nothing to do with this.

 

[if.it.aint.broke.break.it]

^ And why does he think you're a Sony spy? Any clues?

 

[tyff says whoa]

Hello!!

Couple of things to say, I also believe that freedom of speech is necessary for any board and my problem isn't with the opinions of the mods but the two qualities that are must haves for running any board/business/organisation are LEADING BY EXAMPLE and LACK OF HYPOCRISY. This is what went wrong with MaxJax. You didn't know from one day to the next what was deemed acceptable or not, depending on the moods of the certain mods (or modmoods).

Also, please don't tar everyone with the same brush. For my part, Marni was absolutely lovely and fair, as was Chell.

For the first 2 years MaxJax was the perfect board, some people with real musical knowledge, people with musical diverse appreciation and a liberal mentality which meant that if you didn't particularly like an MJ product/album/tour or the way he may have conducted himself, you could say so without fear of being called a non fan or (to use the worst word in the modern vocabulary) a hater.

By the way, Jam is the best & most underrated MJ video of all time, just saying.

Tony!!! It's nice to see you posting. I agree with everything you posted.

Marni, Dan & Chell were also good founders--they didn't allow themselves to be apart of the trivial dramas that other founders/moderators liked to tag team and rule over.

It is a shame the site's gone but when you start losing your founding principles as well as sight of how internals should affect something externally, that's when it all goes to hell in a handbasket.

As for the rest of you - I'm amazed how many people I know from the site. If Maxjax goes back up, hopefully it can be run like a place where certain entities don't overtake things and run them into the ground. As fans we should be celebrating and discussing without fear or expectation of reprimand or snobriety.

Blackat, Tony R, arklove, arXter, Tyff, Niall, MJelboo, Mini, Bumper....all great people and it's a shame most were gone. Then again, you know who here bought it down...and those could be founders or regular posters.

To be honest this doesn't come as a shock to me, what else to do you expect when you ban you're top 8 members and then the remaining 5-6 including myself leave the board because there's no one to have a decent discussion with anymore. I felt the board in the last few months was a joke, founders like Gary (PG) were still using their power of authority & belittling other members opinions but the new ones who had just joined, the same cycle all over again. I just feel all the musical knowledge that we sharedwas wasted... shout out to every member who was banned...

little Steve
Tony R
arXter
Tyff says whoa
scotty todd
Angel2
blakcat (Rhea)
peaceloveMJ
Niall

& myself at one point...Dr.Heat, SmoothCriminal...

I really appreciate it when people mention me in this kind of context. I am proud that my contributions to the discussions were taken well. :]