1.. No discussion of any illegal activity or threats of violence. (ie. illicit drug use, including medical marijuana use, threats of suicide or self-injury, or threatened or intended physical harm). Discussions of suicide or self-harm that are deemed negative and therefore potentially injurious to others are also not permitted.

2. No use of explicit, obscene or vulgar language or images and/or messages, including racist remarks.

3. No posts that attack, insult, "flame", defame, or abuse members or non-members. Respect other members of the community and don’t belittle, make fun off, or insult another member or non-member. Decisions about health and well-being are highly personal, individual choices. "Flaming" and insults, however, will not be tolerated. Agree to disagree. This applies to both the forums and chat.

4. No advertising or links to advertising or "Spam" is permited (including signatures).
Advertising or Spam is defined as posting a link for the purpose of selling, soliciting or promoting by someone that has ownership or other "vested interest" to the web site involved, including efforts to promote other online forums or web sites by web site owners.
If you are a web site owner and have a link that fits into this category that you want to share, please submit it to our resource directory and we will review your submission.
Posts and links about fundraising (including nonprofit fundraisers) are NOT permitted.
Only links to personal home pages are allowed in signatures and member profiles. Links must be appropriate and abide by rules #1-4 or they will be removed.
Links to helpful web sites (commercial or otherwise) are allowed when they are posted by someone without any "vested interest" AND whose purpose is NOT to solicit, advertise, promote, fundraise, etc.
5. No posts regarding research studies, surveys or clinical trials without obtaining prior approval from the forum administrator before posting to the forums.

6. No links to any web site or use of any username that fits into rules # 1-4 above.

7. No use of multiple usernames. Please register and use only one username for the forums. Posting under multiple user accounts will result in administrative action (ie. banning)
8. No SHOUTING. Remember, using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in posts is considered yelling and rude, plus it is difficult to read.

9. Do not post offline personal contact information (ie. your home address, phone numbers etc.) and do not ask for personal information from others. Modify your member profile in the Control Panel (VIEW IMAGE) at the top left corner of the forum to set privacy settings for your account. Use of full names (your first and last name) is allowed but strongly discouraged. This is to protect your security and identity.

10. No duplicate posts. To delete accidental duplicate posts, login first, then open the message you want to delete, then seect the Delete Post button (VIEW IMAGE) on the top right hand corner of the message box.

12. No irrelevant or off-topic posts. Posts which are not relevant to the forum topic may be deleted at the moderator's discretion.

13. No lengthy signatures. Limit signatures to 10 lines or less. Moderators will edit and/or remove signatures that are too long.

RULES (DO'S)

1. Check for open topics. Before posting a new topic, please check to see if there is already a topic open on the subject.

2. Ignore bothersome members. If there is someone on the forum that bothers you, select the Ignore button (VIEW IMAGE) at the top right corner of the post. You won't see any posts from this member again.

3. Report posts that violate the rules and guidelines by selecting the Admin alert button (VIEW IMAGE) at the top right corner of the post to notify the administrator. We will act on the report as quickly as we can. Do not reply to the offending post as that typically only encourages the poster.

4. Welcome new members. When newcomers arrive, say "hi" and welcome them. Help new folks "learn the ropes" about how to find information and resources, save time, and how to get involved. You will also find a lot of help using the forums themselves.