Rules MedBud's Community Rules & Standards (Please Read)

[Muiredach]

MedBud’s forums have become an incredibly positive, helpful and encouraging community within UK medical cannabis.

We need to formalise a set of community standards to ensure that as our community grows - we protect the atmosphere and spirit of the community so far. We also have numerous legal requirements we must adhere to, and need to set more explicit expectations on what is and isn’t allowed.

The following set of standards/rules is not exhaustive, they outline our minimum expectations for community conduct - whereby we can’t predict or premeditate every issue which could occur in the future.

We intend to amend and adjust these community standards over time. Our moderation team reserves the right to make ultimate judgement on what is and isn’t allowed on the forum, and which accounts are allowed to participate in the community overall wherever issues arise.

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Last Updated: 11/01/2026 (D/M/Y)

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Our Community Rules & Standards

1. All members and industry staff must be treated with courtesy and respect.
   1. Personal attacks, harassment, or abusive language towards others are not allowed.
   2. Posts should be written in tolerant and respectful language, avoiding where possible inflammatory or discriminatory remarks.
   3. No posts should criticise or mock other's ethnicity, religion, physical characteristics or health conditions.
   4. Avoid harassing or threatening content, hate speech, or any content that could reasonably incite harm or panic.
2. No posting of other's personal information, including: contact information, names, addresses.
   1. Do not disclose any member’s personal details where they have not already chosen to disclose them on the forum, such as name or location.* (right to privacy)
   2. Do not disclose anyone else's personal details unless already publicly associated with them. General, non-specific information that is already widely and publicly associated with an individual (for example a publicly listed executive's country of residence) may be permitted at staff discretion, provided it does not enable identification, targeting, or harassment.
   *The exception to this rule is where a member chooses to use their name or other identifiable information themselves on the forums. For example, replying on a first name basis; publicly discussing the area they may live in; or sharing a social media link associated with them (if relevant to discussion and non-promotional).
3. No encouragement to partake in illegal activities, no providing of illicit cannabis sources.
   1. Content promoting illegal activities, including instructions on obtaining or using cannabis outside the legal framework, is strictly forbidden.
   2. Discussion of smoking medical cannabis products is allowed for transitioning patients, but do not encourage others to break administration directions.
4. No sales, exchanges or giveaways without formal staff permission.
   1. We do not allow personal product exchanges/offers of any kind because we are unable to suitably verify authenticity.
   2. Do not attempt to buy, sell, trade, or gift cannabis or any derivative products.
5. No requests for donations, fundraising or ‘crowd-funding’ without formal staff permission.
   MedBud cannot ordinarily sufficiently police what is a legitimate/worthy fundraising activity and what is phishing or a scam. Exceptions may be made for select instances from trustworthy sources.
6. No direct promotion of companies or organisations without formal staff permission.
   1. Do not attempt to promote any company or organisation, or their products or services which you have a vested interest in – allowances may be made for long-term members looking to inform of patient-relevant products and services which may be useful to others, at staff discretion.
   2. If you wish to directly advertise on MedBud a company/organisation's product/service please email: advertising@medbud.wiki
7. No self-promotion, or promotion of personal projects without formal staff permission.
   Members may not promote themselves, their platforms, or personal projects except where explicitly permitted below and where the primary purpose is patient benefit, rather than audience growth or monetisation.
   1. All patient-focused YouTube channels may be shared where the content is directly relevant, and is not primarily commercial, sponsored, or promotional in nature.
   2. All private or closed communities (including Telegram groups, Discord servers, Facebook groups, and similar) may not be promoted under any circumstance.
   3. Links to personal social media profiles are permitted in signatures only, provided there is no monetisation, sponsorship, affiliate marketing, or promotional intent.
   4. Patient-created tools or resources (such as formulary trackers, spreadsheets, or calculators) may be shared where the information is not already available on MedBud, is provided freely for patient use, and is not monetised.
   5. All other personal or patient projects must be reviewed and approved by staff before being shared on the forum.
8. Respect intellectual property and copyright law.
   1. Members must ensure that any content shared (including images/text) is either original, used within legal fair usage, or used with proper permission and attribution.
   2. Plagiarism or unauthorised sharing of copyrighted materials is not allowed. Please note there are ‘fair usage’ allowances for commentary and discussion. Sharing GIFs or 'memes' is typically allowed.
   3. When referencing studies, articles, or legal documents, please include proper citations and links where applicable, ensuring the information is current and accurate.
9. Formal legal and medical advice cannot be provided.
   1. Do not present personal anecdotes as definitive medical or legal advice. Always include a reminder to consult professionals for personal health or legal decisions.
   2. Legal/medical advice should include a disclaimer noting that it's based on personal experience/opinion, and not professional expertise (as applicable).
   3. If you are a professional, please refrain from providing direct or definitive advice without proper insight into a case or its circumstances – replying with generalisations based upon professional experience is typically fine.
10. AI-generated text, images and videos must be explicitly noted as such.
    The exception to this rule is staff account @Holly, which may see future use as a general forum helper with AI assistance. Allowances made for images in prominent media publications.
11. No nudity or pornographic content, no sexualisation of members.
    1. All genitalia and female nipples must be blanked, covered or suitably blurred. Topless photos otherwise fine, if appropriate in the context of the post (such as sharing pictures of an injury).
    2. Overtly provocative or sexualised images are banned in all instances.
    3. Sexualised comments and remarks should not be made towards other members.
12. Staff at companies have a right to personal privacy.
    Staff members not currently publicly identifiable as working at a particular company/organisation should not be mentioned by name, and their privacy should be respected in all instances (important for international cultivators, where local safety can be a concern).
13. Evidence information and claims wherever possible.
    Share only accurate, verifiable, and evidence-based information. Cite reputable sources when referencing studies, statistics, or legal information - we recognise at times some claims may be publicly unverifiable, such as citing a doctor or pharmacist on the phone.
14. Pursue the point, not the person.
    If you disagree with another member over a point, please keep any debate respectful, and discussion limited to the point at hand - and don't degrade into attacking a member's character or personal attributes due to disagreement.
15. No participation from under 18s.
    While an adolescent could check our main database with parental permission if prescribed, we choose not to allow discussion of medical cannabis from under 18s directly on the forum whatsoever. Parents and guardians are always welcome to seek advice for adolescent cannabis patients.

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Avatars & Signatures

We encourage all members to upload an avatar to their account for easy visual identification. All avatars are presented as a square image in 1:1 ratio, wider or taller images will be automatically cropped. Images may be used in signatures (only visible to logged-in members), but are limited to a maximum size of 640px wide by 80px tall.

1. No nudity or pornographic content, no sexualisation of members. (see rule #11)
2. No images containing logos/symbols/reference to any political parties, or their leaders, from any country - unless historic, and unlikely to offend.
3. No images containing the flag(s) of any country currently at war with another. (excluding the UK, its constituent countries, Crown Dependencies and all British Overseas Territories)
4. No rapid flashing or quick transitions on animated avatars and signatures.
5. All signature text and links must comply with all other rules.

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Infractions, Warnings & Bans

Members who violate rules may be warned, temporarily suspended, or permanently banned. For more minor infractions we always attempt to warn members before any potential ban may be deemed necessary.

In-line with the UK Online Safety Act, this forum will actively monitor and remove content that:

• Promotes or incites hate, extremism, or illegal activities.
• Includes harmful or misleading information that could compromise the safety or well-being of individuals.
• Encourages or instructs users to engage in any form of illegal cannabis-related activities.

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Reporting Issues

Most types of content on our forum have a 'Report' button, which immediately alerts staff to any issue that needs to be dealt with. We use a management system where reports are marked as open/closed and notes can be left between staff to discuss. We typically send a notification to the reporter informing them of the outcome for each report.

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Removing Accounts & Posts

Unlike our main database, where accounts are permanently deleted upon request - we only offer the ability to disable and anonymise accounts here on the forum. Allowing members to remove all posts would leave gaps in discussions; remove potentially useful information; and remove important context for replies.

Content will only be edited or removed where it contains personal details that directly identify you to the general public, in-line with the GDPR.

If you wish to disable your forum account, please email: access@medbud.wiki

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General Disclaimer

All content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical, legal, or financial advice. Always consult a qualified professional before making any healthcare or legal decisions.

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This set of community rules and standards aims to create a safe and supportive environment for discussing legal medical cannabis in the UK while adhering to the principles outlined by the UK Online Safety Act. We encourage all members to participate responsibly, contribute thoughtfully, and respect the legal frameworks governing online content here.

For other information on our Terms of Service or Privacy Policy, please visit the relevant links.

 

[Muiredach]

For any discussion or feedback on our community rules, please refer to our suggestions thread below:

Implemented Thread 'Suggestions for Forum Rules'

9th Dec, 2024

Largely a placeholder topic for now, we've been running without a formal forum rule-set for the past 3 months. We've had barely an issue so far - if I remember correctly, we've banned two members for advertising, and had two minor grumbles between members resolved via public discussion.

For the moment, it's not urgent we put these rules together - as by and large the community has been without controversy; friendly and supportive of one another. In the long-run rules will be required.

Please feel free to chime in with suggestions to be discussed and potentially formally implemented. For...

• Muiredach
• Replies: 23
• Forum: Feedback & Suggestions

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