The Sara Bellum Blog

Please keep the following policies in mind. NIDA reserves the right to update these policies at any time.

Privacy and Security

We respect your privacy. We do not collect any information about you personally. However, our computers do collect limited information from your computer, like the time of your visit, what internet browser you are using, and what link brought you here. You can read our complete privacy policy here.

Medical Information

It is not NIDA’s intention to provide medical advice to people about their personal drug use, but instead to provide information that helps people improve their health and their communities. NIDA urges drug users to consult with a qualified physician who can diagnose problems and answer personal medical questions. To get immediate help with a drug problem, call 1–800–662–HELP, or visit findtreatment.samhsa.gov to find a treatment provider near you.

Comment Policy

The purpose of the Sara Bellum Blog is to discuss the science of addiction and drug abuse. We welcome your comments and ideas. We want to hear what questions you have about drugs and know your concerns.

In order for this blog community to be a friendly place for everyone, we have some ground rules. Most importantly, we expect that everyone here will treat each other with respect. In order to keep things respectful, we moderate all comments before they are posted. Comments that contain vulgar language, personal insults, offensive comments about people’s ethnicity, race, religion, or sexual orientation, or any other kinds of attacks on other people will not be posted. Comments that are spam, are clearly off topic, that promote services or products, or that make unsupported accusations will also not be posted. We will also not post comments that advocate breaking the law or committing crimes.

Being smart about your privacy is really important online. You should never include any personal information about yourself (such as your phone number or address) in comments you post to a blog. Please don’t share other people’s personal information, either. You are responsible for what you post, so before you submit a comment, be sure you are okay with other people seeing it. Comments that include information like phone numbers, email addresses, etc. will be moderated.

Because comments are moderated, there may be a slight delay before your comment appears on the site. Don’t worry! All comments that follow the rules above will eventually appear.

If you don’t want to comment, you can always use the star rating system on each blog post to rate the post, or you can tell us how you think we’re doing using this form.

Links

The Sara Bellum Blog includes links to additional information created and maintained by other public and private organizations and individuals, such as universities, scientific journals, news groups, and health organizations. The Sara Bellum Blog provides these links to connect you with added information that you may find interesting.

The icon indicates that a link connects to a non-federal website. If you click the link, you will leave the Sara Bellum Blog and the NIDA for Teens website.

• When you leave our website, you will have to follow the privacy and security policies of the owners or sponsors of the outside website.

• NIDA and The Sara Bellum Blog do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on a linked website.

• NIDA and The Sara Bellum Blog do not endorse the organizations sponsoring linked websites, the views they express, or the products or services they offer.

• NIDA and The Sara Bellum Blog cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. You must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website.

• NIDA and The Sara Bellum Blog are not responsible for interactions between our users and linked websites.

• NIDA and The Sara Bellum Blog do not guarantee that outside websites comply with Section 508 (Accessibility Requirements) of the Rehabilitation Act.

Media Policy

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the NIDA Office of Science Policy and Communications through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions through the Sara Bellum Blog or NIDA for Teens website. Media questions will not be answered through this channel.

Copyright

Government information presented on the Sara Bellum Blog is in the public domain. Public domain information may be freely distributed and copied, but please link to us and acknowledge us as the source, so more people can find our blog.

All NIH-generated images (including images that are labeled “NIDA” or “NIH”) are in the public domain and can be freely reused; again, we always appreciate being credited as the source.

We also use illustrations, photographs, and/or other resources contributed by or licensed from private sources, companies, or organizations that may be protected by copyright laws. In these cases, please request permission for reuse directly from the source/copyright holder.

Materials downloaded from NIH cannot be used to misrepresent our agency or imply that NIH endorses any commercial or private product, service, or activity.

For further information, contact:

NIDA Public Information and Liaison Branch
E-mail: media@nida.nih.gov

Grateful Policy

Thank you for taking the time to get to know our policies. We know there are a lot of places you can go on the Web, and we want to thank you for visiting us. Please link to us and share what you learn here with your friends! Thanks,

The Sara Bellum Blog Team
Office of Science Policy and Communications
National Institute on Drug Abuse