Is weed really a gateway drug?

[Darius Brogan]

The only Gateway I can see anyone finding through pot is Narnia, after falling through the bottom of their empty Dorito's bag.

If you're mind is weak enough to move on to stronger, actually dangerous drugs, then it's YOUR fault, not the pots.

 

[Haydyn]

No. It's more of a wall. If weed didn't exist, people would go straight to harder drugs. Only 1 person out of every 104 people that smoke weed ever try cocaine. Any tendancies towards being a gateway are purely due to social issues. If weed was legal, it wouldn't be a gateway at all.

I'm stoned right now. I don't wanna go out and snort cocaine or shoot heroin. I just wanna eat my cheez-its and do fun stuff like post on the forums. Wait a minute! Weed is a gateway to Cheezits and the Escapist.

 

[mooncalf]

I think you might as well say a Hyundai is a gateway car to a Ferarri. Drug use doesn't begin with the drug, it begins with what's in your head already, and I hope every day that we will improve in our handling - not of the substances which fascinate us, but - of ourselves. Otherwise who cares what you smoke, we'll be largely damned anyway.

 

[Azrael the Cat]

One thing is certain. There is not a single heroin addict in the world - or even in the history of the world - who did not eat food before moving to shooting heroin.

Think about it. Sure, lots of kids try eating food without shooting up, but look at the ones who have shot up and the causal relationship is clear. If those kids were never introduced to food at a young and impressionable age, NONE of them would have gone on to heroin.

Food is the real gateway drug. Food is the real killer.

Save our children. Eradicate food today.

 

[Vonnis]

As a dutch guy who has been smoking weed frequently for years, and who knows plenty of people who have done the same, I have to say no. The vast majority of people who smoke weed, at least the ones I know, stick to weed.

 

[thiosk]

Marijuana does not magically make you want to snort meth.

To get weed you have to rub shoulders with drug dealers. In my younger years, I was but a quick phonecall away from all sorts of stuff to try. Its that availability and opprotunity. Eventually, your hookup is gonna be fresh out of the good tokin', and since the weekend is blown anyway, a sales pitch is all it takes to get someone to give something else a try.

 

[Astoria]

Everyone I know who's done harder drugs has started with weed. It had nothing to do with it being illegal, they just wanted to try harder and harder drugs.

Everyone I know who has done hard drugs did not start with weed. Your small sample source has no validation whatsoever. Studies show that BECAUSE it is illegal users have other illegal substances made aware to them and provided to them. If it was in a store and you went to buy it the owner wouldn't say 'wanna try some cocaine too?'
TL;DR it IS due to it being illegal; in a black market environment you are exposed to numerous substances. I have smoked for years and it is ONLY due to it being illegal that I have been introduced to other substances simply because they are also illegal. I do not partake in them, and have no desire to. I honestly don't want to start an argument; I am merely stating facts and speaking from personal experience having smoked it myself for years and doing MUCH research on the topic, mainly from professionals and medical sources.

But how can you say that with absolute certainty? Also, in saying that they do it simply because its illegal you're implying that people who steal and murder ect are doing so simply because it's illegal. It being illegal can't be the only reason why they do it.

 

[Nickolai77]

Yes, it can be gateway drug because it is an illegal drug. As another poster said, if you can find a weed supplier and break the law, they can probably find a whole crowd whom are into the stronger stuff.

Plus, this happend to one of my friends. Started smoking weed, and then did other drugs. Said he preferred it to alcohol because he could get into a euphoric state without losing sensory awareness.

 

[Legion]

One thing is certain. There is not a single heroin addict in the world - or even in the history of the world - who did not eat food before moving to shooting heroin.

Think about it. Sure, lots of kids try eating food without shooting up, but look at the ones who have shot up and the causal relationship is clear. If those kids were never introduced to food at a young and impressionable age, NONE of them would have gone on to heroin.

Food is the real gateway drug. Food is the real killer.

Save our children. Eradicate food today.

*applauds*

I do love using this line of argument when it comes to things. Especially against morons who think that video games cause violence.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Marijuana : a dangerous gateway drug that can lead to more serious addictions like Guitar Hero & Doritos, & working retail until you're 50.

Anything else? Nah. If you're going to go for the higher stuff, you're gonna go as soon as you get the taste anyway. And frankly it's sensible to use it as a gateway drug then so you can understand your intoxication levels.

 

[Astoria]

-snip-

I understand what you're getting at but you are saying that everyone who has ever done harder drugs has done so because it's illegal (saying in the most basic way possible of course). But that can't be true. There are dozens of reasons why people get into harder drugs so to say that this is the only reason just isn't true. Yes, the draw of it being illegal and the path that it leads down is one of the main ones but not the only one.

 

[WolfThomas]

Meh, the sort of people who would try hard drugs would certainly try weed early on in their life, seeing as it's one of the more cheaper and easily found drugs. This is is called a confounding factor. I know plenty of deadbeat dropouts who do weed, I also know a large number of medical students and even a few doctors who recreationally use.

 

[individual11]

If it is a gateway drug, I got my hand jammed in the hinge.

 

[Danzaivar]

It's a gateway drug simply because it's illegal while being less bad for you than booze. I'd guess it's a combination of a) having to find a drug dealer to get access and b) finding out that drugs being illegal doesn't mean they're that harmful/evil. One puts you in a bad place and the other gets you questioning laws.

Fucking stupid, frankly.