Stanton banned from CD list!

Jeff Schaler, after leaving the MM list he created with the Audrey Kishline (while calling Audrey a Nazi), began a list entitled CD (controlled drinking/drug use) for dissidents from standard beliefs and practices in the American substance abuse field. In starting the list, he sought input from Robin Room (formerly vice president of research at the Addiction Research Foundation), Ron Roizen, and myself.

At some point Jeff invited Robin Room and others to get involved in a showdown debate on some crucial issues, such as personal and criminal responsibility of alcoholics. He embarked on a long debate (or series of debates) with Robin, joined frequently (on Jeff's side) by Amos Gunsberg. While the topics were pretty dry, Schaler and Gunsberg made increasingly offensive accusations against Robin (frequently calling him a liar — Amos's favorite accusation is that someone is "MURDERING THE TRUTH").

I was involved only intermittently in the debate. I argued with Robin about the extent to which substance abusers should be penalized for their misbehavior, with Robin taking the minority position on CD exculpating them. I also object in general to Robin's larger public health positions on alcohol.

However, at some point I decided I could not tolerate the tone of the proceedings, and made a request that Amos and Jeff examine their rhetoric. This led to Jeff calling me a liar etc., and further insults against Rob Ryley and other writers in our defense (including Tomec Smith).

Eventually, Jeff and his list co-owner demanded that Robin, Rob, and me apologize and justify ourselves to the list, otherwise we would be removed from the list. We were finally expelled on November 3, with additional threats to us if we should go public with our story. At the time we were banned, we were among 98 members of CD. Others have since left, including Ron Roizen, prompting Jeff to call him a coward. Tomec Smith was also banned, joining the CD3.

Jeff has refused to allow us to use any of his quotes or other materials from CD. Those who can gain access to the CD archives will be confronted by a staggering amount of verbiage. But I dare say most will be shocked by the tone of intolerance taken by Jeff and his cohorts. I have included in the materials on this controversy at SPAWS the listowners' original banning notice, as well as Jeff's stated reasons for wanting me banned. There were further reprecussions on Jeff's other list owned with Martin Smith, Nuvupsy (against the psychiatric state), where a number of subscribers there quit for comparable reasons, prompting me to reflect on the strange phenomenon represented by such controlling listowners. I include here some comments from Robin Room, Tomec Smith and Rob Ryley (with their permission).

Stanton Peele