Meme Cultivation:
Memetic, Scatter, & Grow.
May 2001
Citation: Erowid F, Erowid E. "Meme Cultivation: Memetic, Scatter, & Grow". Erowid Extracts. May 2001;1:10.
Many members we've spoken to in person have been surprised and interested to hear about the wide variety of organizations that have used information and images from the Erowid website. Besides the usual suspects of web boards, newspapers, and students writing class papers about psychedelics in the last year, we have granted permission to hundreds of other organizations and projects to use pieces from our site. These include a Navy recruiting office interested in drug education for new recruits, a NIDA-funded educational neurology CD, a local DARE newsletter, many harm-reduction groups including local DanceSafe chapters, several drug abuse counseling centers, school drug education programs across the country, etc. We've granted permission for several dozen groups in non-English speaking countries to use images or translated texts, including one in mainland China. Prentice-Hall, a major text book publisher included surfing Erowid as part of a chemistry exercise in one of their courses.
Many television stories about various substances have included information and images from our site, some have notified us or requested permission, most have not. Our primary requirements for the noncommercial use of material from the site is that the author/artist (if any) and Erowid.org both be credited immediately next to the image or information, so each use is accompanied by a pointer back to the full library.
An unexpected propagation effect comes in the less formalized de facto use of Erowid as a primary resource by psychoactive-related professionals. A member of a large forensic crime lab and friend of Erowid said that the site is the first place the lab staff goes for information about non-medical use of psychoactives. A recent comment we received from a self-described Paramedic mirrors other comments we've received from emergency medical professionals:
Many television stories about various substances have included information and images from our site, some have notified us or requested permission, most have not. Our primary requirements for the noncommercial use of material from the site is that the author/artist (if any) and Erowid.org both be credited immediately next to the image or information, so each use is accompanied by a pointer back to the full library.
An unexpected propagation effect comes in the less formalized de facto use of Erowid as a primary resource by psychoactive-related professionals. A member of a large forensic crime lab and friend of Erowid said that the site is the first place the lab staff goes for information about non-medical use of psychoactives. A recent comment we received from a self-described Paramedic mirrors other comments we've received from emergency medical professionals:
"Your site, with its references to medical journals, reported experiences, and legislative updates has been an invaluable resource in our efforts to keep educated on the symptoms, treatment, and culture surrounding the use of these drugs. This last is very important, for it assists us in gaining the trust and understanding of our patients (who are often as distrustful of us as we are of them)."It is always satisfying to hear that others find our work helpful.