Opinions - The stepping stone theory: is cannabis a Gateway Drug?

[mf400]

Does anyone think that marijuana is a gateway drug? Would it be less of a gateway drug if it were legal? And if you didn't start with marijuana, what did you start with?


Just some questions for disscussion. Personally, as much as I hate to say it, weed is a gateway drug. Whether or not you take that leap into a wider world of drugs has more to do with how curious or adventurous of a person you are. Me, I want to expierence as much of the world as possible, including the different feelings of chemicals. But I do think that much of the gateway aspect also has to do with the grouping of weed with other substances instead of giving it a harmless and legal stance comparable to ciggarettes and alcohol (even if those two are far more unhealthy than most other drugs).

[truestbet]

I would say cigarettes are more of a gateway drug, and is way more addictive than marijuana. Lots of people some weed a few times and never use weed again or move on to other drugs because of it. Most people I would guess become addicted to cigarettes after a few times, and smoking cigarettes puts them at risk to do other drugs.They say nicotine, alcohol, and cocaine are all addictive in the same way in thatthey work on the brains reward system. I thinkunderage cigarette smokers are more likely to move onto harder drugs. But because weed is illegal, it putseven the newestweed buyers in a game filled with other types of drugs, and some dealers would push them to try other drugs. I blame the system.

[greener]

Strangely enough, weed was one of the last drugs SWIM tried...
The first (if SWIM can recall correctly) was either oxycodone or
hydrocodone, and SWIM quickly moved through the opiate family, even
doing the hard ones years before SWIM would even try marijuana.
Let's see, before SWIM tried marijuana, he had already gotten to most
of the opiates, adderall/dexedrine, benzos, non-benzo sleep aids
(zolpidem, zaleplon, zopiclone), DXM, nitrous, and probably something
else that SWIM can't think of. The only major ones that SWIM
hadn't tried before pot were the psychadelics, PCP, coke, and meth, the
latter two of which he still hasn't done and hopefully never
will. Actually, the PCP was in the pot that he smoked his first
time... Needless to say, SWIM thought that pot was far stronger
than he'd expected, and was astounded and slightly frightened by
everything.



I think that pot is a gateway to certain drugs in some
situations. After smoking, I think that one's interest in
psychadelics is likely to increase sharply, though this may be the fact
that SWIM was actually in college when he first tried it, where
psychadelics were everywhere. Specifically, the dealers at SWIM's
college that sold pot almost always sold large quantities of mushrooms,
LSD, and a few RCs (5-MeO-DMT, methylone, and a couple others from time
to time). These people wouldn't have anything to do with "harder"
drugs like heroin or meth (though they sold high quantities of coke,
for some reason). In that situation, being around pot
automatically gets you near psychadelics and away from the hard drugs...

[brandonBOYDrox]

i remember i used to argue that weed was not a gateway drug. i tried to pretend like it was harmless and it was only illegal b/c the government didn't want to deal with the people who would protest if it became lagalized. back when i was just getting into smoking i wouldn't dare say anything to make it sound harmful. therefore, god forbid, I might just be doing something wrong!


i couldn't deny though,when i began to wonder about other drugs instead of my earlier thought that weed is all i ever needed to try, that it is definetely a gateway drug. i share a similar story with many others.... you start with weed and probably alcohol...then you get bored. so what do you do next? look for something to give you a new, more exciting high. i've now tried drugs i used to think even after trying weed that i would stay away from. which is okay now that i have researched and learned more than the scare stories you hear from your 7th grade health teacher.


i never liked smoking ciggs, but they are no doubt a gateway for some. if you are underage and willing to smoke ciggs illegally, that is probably not the only illegal substance you will be willing to risk doing.


in my opinion, it starts with alcohol b/c most kids can find that in their own home...easy access. then weed which is a step up in difficulty to get. then whatever sounds fun.

[mf400]

Yeah, I remember back when I started with weed, I would say things like "I'm never going to do acid, or ectasy,....blah blah" That has definately changed and there are few drugs out there that I havn't tried.


There are definately many people out there who smoke and wont go any further than that, I have many friends like that. It has to do with being informative and adventurous. Swallowing health class lies wont make it easier to take another step down the mind expansion path.

[pokeymcsmot420]

marijuana is in no way shape or form a gateway drug, im sorry.


in my oppinion it all depends what you were exposed to first and most often. ie. if you grew up around pill poppers and your friends pop pills your more likely to pop a pill than to go out and find a weed connection.


its just in most cases people are more exposed to weed because its, well its everywhere.


my oppinion, the gateway drug ispublic school.

[bubaloo]

marijuana, for me was not a gateway drug (it was the first illegal drug i tried). For me it was mushrooms.

i had only done mj before i tried shrooms, i didnt want to try any more drugs other than mj. my friend persuaded me into trying shrooms; i had such a positive experience that after that, i was a lot more open minded when it came to trying more drugs.

[phenethylamine]

I believe marijuana is considered a gateway drug by many because generally it is the first 'drug' many people try. Now, while everyone is on their very own unique path, I do not believe marijuana is in fact a gateway drug. I know many people that did not encounter marijuana as their first 'drug', and I also know many people that tried it first and continue to only use marijuana or have left it at that. I also think it is important to look at the history of drug use in america and the government's view on it. They know that everyone and their mom has at least tried marijuana, and they don't like it so ofcourse a general idea that marijuana is a gateway drug would be created to instill fear in those that are curious but wary. I definately do not think marijuana is a gateway drug, in fact the drug information classes at public schools are now saying that alcohol is in fact more of a gateway drug than marijuana. It is my opinion that marijuana should be legal and alcohol should be made illegal. Not because of the alcohol being a gateway drug, just because alcohol sucks and causes a lot of drama in our lives that we generally do not need. If I were to get drunk with alcohol, I would be missing the point entirely.

[mf400]

I like alcohol, well, love it. But to put into context of what was the drug that started me down the path:


A long while ago my friends and I were driving around looking to get fucked up and one friend said "Hey, cough syrup can really mess you up." At first I though, Bullshit! He showed me erowid and that it really can mess you up. We bought a bunch and chugged it. At that moment I was introduced to a powerful drug (DXM) and erowid. This was all after weed which when I first tried i just wanted more weed. With DXM i wanted more of everything that would fuck with reality.

[fek_you_all]

Marijuana wasnt a gateway drug for me either. For me, it was crack.


I have a few friends though, who tried weed, got curious, and then started doing other things.


I think it just depends on the person.

[polloloco001]

i started drinking then smoking weed, vicodin, dxm, then the
psychedelics, then e, coke, whatever. but when i started i knew i was
gonna get in deeper. i planned to. so i dont think weed was a gateway
drug for me. it really can be tho. people definetely decide they want
to move further with drugs once theyve started smoking weed.

[billbong]

for me a gateway drug is a drug u enjoy so try experimenting with other drugs. mary j is the by far (e is 2nd i think)the most common, is not to strong for most ppl is fun and a bordem killer. so yes i think ganj is a gateway drug.
(not saying that is a good or bad thing thats jus the way it is

[boomer0]

i've always thought that people who smoke and then move on to other drugs would have gotten curious about the other drugs even if there was no pot on the planet. it does kinda change your attitude but i don't know if that was really the drug, or peer influence, or just growing up (probly all 3).

[chico]

My gateway was alcohol. This is the first drug that I had ever had back in high school. Without alcohol, I would not have known what mind-altering meant. Over time, when I started hearing people doing other drugs, I got curious as to what these buzzes were like. That's when I started experimenting. And, in fact, the only time I would discuss and talk about these things was when I was drinking alcohol.


So, bottom line, without alcohol, I don't think I would have moved into other areas (X, coke, methylone, etc.).

[Ephemerides]

SWIM wanted to try acid back when he was learning about it in dare. He
never drank a sip or smoked a cig up till the time he was 15, and then
he smoked weed for the first time. It was mearly because other people
enjoyed it around him and he wanted to experience it to. He took his
first puffs, never really drank, but did a bunch of different pills and
psychedelics. Weed was the gateway mearly because that's the way he
grew up and was most available.

[Qish]

this is just something iv heard, but im not positive about it



when they where making marijuana illegal, at the time heroin abuse was
really bad, one of the things they said was that 99% of heroin addicts
started with marijuana.



and from what iv heard thats a true statement.



but the thing is, statistics are easy to decieve you with, for example,
later on they found that only 5% of marijuana smokers move on to heroin.



so the first statistic sounds really bad right, but the second one isnt a big deal, but theyre both the truth.



so as you can see (even i those odds are bullshit) things can be very tricky like that.

[sands of time]

Marijuana is a gateway drug, but only because of the fact that it is illegal. By forcing marijuana smokers to turn to the black market, they are exposed to other drugs as well. The reason alcohol and cigarettes are not considered gateway drugs is because you buy them at your local store. So law enforcement has made marijuana a gateway drug, and exposed it's users to many pointless risks. It's kinda like how they tell you not to smoke marijuana cause you can get in trouble with the law... Then legalize it!

[insanity]

i think it's a gateway drug because it's the most common drug and thus being so, after marijuana has been tried and abused, drug abuser will tend to move onto harder drugs. at first all i was, was a pothead. no alcohol even, but curiousity killed the cat when pot stopped doing it for me. I didn't plan on doing every drug in the book, but marijuana was the first chapter fo sho. of course any real drug is a gateway drug in my opinion.

[antigenesis]

Originally Posted by pokeymcsmot420

marijuana is in no way shape or form a gateway drug, im sorry.


in my oppinion it all depends what you were exposed to first and
most often. ie. if you grew up around pill poppers and your friends pop
pills your more likely to pop a pill than to go out and find a weed
connection.


its just in most cases people are more exposed to weed because its, well its everywhere.


my oppinion, the gateway drug ispublic school.

I totally agree with this. The only reason weed is a 'gateway
drug' in my opinion is that it usually happenes to be there
first. When I went into the drug arena the only reason I did weed
first was because it was the easiest to get my hands on. Now
while coke and meth may not lend themselves to be gateway drugs even if
put under these circumstances, many other drugs would be. If
vicodin, somas, salvia, ecstacy, or any other softer drug were as
commonplace as marijuana they would be 'the gateway drug'.

[40oz]

cigarets are the #1 gateway drug....


i don't know anybody who started bagging heroin before smoking a pack of camels....

[Qish]

cigarettes are also the number one cause of human death, more than aids, car crashes, heroin ect ect

[prospero]

Recent research in Sweden has shown that when young rats are given a lot of Marijuana, they are more likely to become heroin addicts as adults if given the opportunity. Scientists believe that in adolescents Marijuana actually alters brain development in such a way as to make this happen (they also believe it increases the likelihood of psychotis illness in later life.) The scientists believe the same is very likely to be true in humans. However this only applies to adolescents. Adults, where the brain is already fully developed show no greater sign of heroin addiction after chronic marijuana usage.

[Toltec]

The Gateway Drug is~


Your parents! This dont applie to everyone's family.


You see them smoke cigarettes, drink and have parties. Alot of kids grow up watching and learning; we are our parents.


Tv, media, print reinforces the idea,we arehaving a good time! It's subtle brainwashing, but it works well. emotional brainwashing to, as we grow we need acceptance from others, not every one, is an alfa!


There is no gateway drug there's only curiosity.\/ acceptance


cheers


Edited by: Toltec

[MescalinePirate]

I think that Marijuana is a gateway drug, only in the way that it helps
you meet other drug users. Marijuana is easy to get and it's all around
us, so it makes sense that it's normally the first illegal drug that
people use. However, as people get stoned in "sessions" with other
people, often people they have not met before, they begin to make
connections with people who can get them other drugs. Then add said
curiosity and they begin to indulge in other drugs.

[mopsie]

Scientists Say Smoking Cannabis DOESN'T Lead to Taking Harder Drugs
Tuesday 07 March 2006

Claims that cannabis use leads to harder drugs were yesterday dismissed as nonsense.

A report to MPs said most scientists rejected the idea that smoking dope encouraged people to try out Class A drugs like heroin and cocaine.

It said: "The gateway theory that the use of drugs like cannabis leads on to the use of harder drugs has little evidence to support it despite copious research."

The report to the Commons Science Committee also questioned the whole system used to classify illegal drugs.

It said ministers’ decisions to put drugs into Class A, B or C categories with different penalties were not based on scientific evidence.

The report said: "Drugs are not classified on the basis of a set of standards for the harm they cause. The criteria used have varied depending on the drug in question."

The report said magic mushrooms were classified as a Class A drug despite little evidence they did much harm.

It said ecstasy was also a Class A drug for "unclear" reasons and despite evidence it was "several thousand times less dangerous than heroin". Committee chairman Phil Willis said there were real questions about whether the classification system worked.

He said: "We want to see whether the system as it stands has a sound basis of evidence.

"We want to see whether it is evidence rather than political expediency that is driving decisions."

The Home Office is also growing increasingly concerned the system does not work. In January Home Secretary Charles Clarke announced plans for a complete overhaul of the way drugs are categorised and prohibited.

Class A drugs which carry a seven-year penalty for possession include heroin, LSD, ecstasy, cocaine, crack and magic mushrooms.

Class B drugs are amphetamines and barbiturates carrying five years for possession. Class C drugs include cannabis, steroids, and the tranquillizer ketamine which carry two years for possession.

The report comes after a UN drugs agency warned this week of the rise of dance and sex drug methamphetamine, or crystal meth.

It warned it is more addictive than crack cocaine and is becoming a global problem.

The International Narcotics Control Board called on governments across the world to introduce tougher restrictions on chemicals used in the manufacture of the drug, which allows users to stay awake for days and increases sexual arousal.

London-based INCB president, Professor Hamid Ghodse said: "If I want to pick on one major drug problem pandemic today, it is methamphetamine."