Is weed really a gateway drug?

[CommanderKirov]

Naa it's just a drug.

And even though I have been offered it and my friends smoked quite alot. I never did, and that's just because i feel naseous at the thought of smoking. Never tried it in my life and never will...


DRINKING HEAVILY ON THE OTHER HAND

 

[zxvcasdfqwerzxcv]

People I know who use harder drugs generally don't smoke much weed and haven't in the past.

I think it should be legal like alcohol and tobacco, considering it is much less harmful than those long term. If it was legal, it would diminish any gateway properties, which I can only assume are dealers, who would have access to multiple types of drugs.

 

[Sandernista]

With weed, yes, its I find the illegality of the substance to be a major reason for it being a gateway drug. In order to experiment with the seemingly innocuous marijuana plant, you must first get over your qualms of breaking the law for a substance and take the step to find people who would solicit, learning the way in which these purchases are conducted.
With these two hurdles already excused in the minds of the weed consumer, the only thing standing between them and more dangerous substances is the concern over the damage they can do to oneself.

This, I have nothing more to say.

 

[Bneuf]

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.

Yep, and every alcoholic once had a beer. Should we ban beer?

Technically, if we go by certain precedents of the illegality of products with Cannabinoids, like Marijuana, we should by all means go after Alcohol, and while we're at it, cigarettes. If Marijuana was legalized, there wouldn't really be any link from it to drugs that can kill. You can't overdose on Marijuana, but you can on Nicotine and Alcohol. Legislators make the arguments that Marijuana impairs motor skills and judgment, but Alcohol is far more serious in those regards. The gateway drug thing is really all that they hold on to in terms of making it illegal, but they're caught in a loop in terms of decriminalization, because the DEA has proven that people used Marijuana first. I'm sorry if I answered a rhetorical question, but I believe that either legalize Marijuana, or make other legal drugs illegal. And I'm pretty sure no one wants a Prohibition type thing, so to maintain their legitimacy in my eyes, the government would have to stop contradicting themselves on the issues of all drugs. Alcohol, Cigarettes, Dip, Cocaine, Meth, and more, are harmful, unlike Marijuana, which can just be vaporized instead of smoked, or even just consumed.

 

[Dango]

Most of my friends(who are 15) started with weed. Before smoking weed they all promised that they wouldn't drink and they'd stay off any drugs that are more dangerous. They now get drunk regularly and have done LSD and cocaine.

So my answer based off personal experience is yes.

 

[Daijoubu]

I've never got weed, never bothered by myself but I've smoked a bit with mates (and had one unfortunate night with a pineapple bong) and I just wind up not wanting to do anything pretty fast. Not my idea of a fun night lol
I wouldn't call it bad or anything, just kinda pointless lol

 

[LightspeedJack]

Only if you're weak and have no self control.

Don't blame a substance for your own problems.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

NO NO NO NO NO NO

I know several people who smoked weed and never did anything else, myself being one of them.

I also know people who went straight to crystal meth.

Weed isnt even a drug

Uh technically weed is a drug. Its pretty much undeniable

OT: Really, it does seem like it could make people want to try harder and harder stuff, but as someone pointed out, it may just be the suppliers egging you on

 

[Custard_Angel]

Weed isnt even a drug

Ostensibly correct, weed is a plant, but THC and other cannabinoid components sure as hell qualify as drugs.

OT: Is it a gateway drug?

No, with a but.

Yes, with an if.

I'd say its probably fairly safe to say that most users of meth/heroin/cocaine/whatever also have used weed.

I'd also say its probably fairly safe to say that most users of weed don't also use meth/heroin/cocaine/whatever.

There's evidence of weed as a gateway drug, certainly, but it's a bit of a stretch to call weed a gateway drug because of it.

Even still, I don't support weed because there's no reason for its use.

 

[Togs]

Its people that choose to go further- its not the drug that makes do it.

 

[thylasos]

It's a gateway drug to pizza, for me.

I believe the argument is that to obtain weed you have to associate with people who may be doing harder drugs. However, it's ahrdly an argument against legalisation, since legalisation would solve precisely this problem.

 

[Gardenia]

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.

Through my aunt I know many addicts, and I can tell you that this is absolute bullshit. From where I see it, the common denominators are rough childhood/PTSD +alcohol abuse.
I know many heroin/cocaine/amphetamine/pain killer abusers who have never tried cannabis, or who tried cannabis long after their primary addiction to heavier drugs had taken hold.

Umm what? You're telling me that these people I know didn't start with weed and move onto harder stuff? Pretty sure they did.

I may have been a little rash to post ^^
I pretty much didn't see the "I know"-part. For this I apologize.
Although I still think their desire to try harder and harder drugs would have manifested itself no matter what drug they started on.

 

[MaxwellEdison]

Saying that weed leads to crack is like saying alcohol leads to heroin.

 

[viranimus]

I support the RElegalization of Marijuana, and I think it IS a gateway drug, which is all the more reason for it to be legalized.

Let me rephrase that.. It has the POTENTIAL to be a gateway drug, and that is based purely on its illegal status. The Illegal nature is what makes it a gateway drug. Once you have gotten over the illegal nature of pot, the illegal nature of cocaine, heroine, X, Acid, etc does not seem like that big of a deal. However pot does not motivate you to want to seek out those experiences. Hell, Pot rarely if ever motivates anyone, anywhere, to do anything.

With such, acceptance of Pot does make it easier to migrate to other more dangerous drugs in that respect, and that respect alone. So removing its illegal status will eliminate it as a gateway drug all together. Pot by itself is about as much of a gateway drug as alcohol is.So making it legal is the only logical way to block any sort of gateway attached to Pot. On a scale of 1-10 with pot being illegal, the likelihood of it being a gateway drug is roughly about 6 at most. Make it legal and that likelihood drops to about 2-3, right around the same area as alchol.

Just relegalize it already. There has been infinitely more damage done by making it illegal than there ever was from it being legal. The levels of crime generated from it have skyrocketed,as crime related to pot before it was illegal was practically non existent. It helps perpetuate drug cartels who will push other drugs along with it. Its illegal status has rendered medical and industrial research implausible.


TLDR: There is no good reason it should not be RE-legalized. The only thing that makes pot a gateway drug is its Illegal status. Remove that, and it is no longer a threat.

 

[Xanadu84]

Shitty scientists did an experiment designed to lie with statistics. It said weed was a gateway drug because the people doing the experiment didn't like weed, but liked getting money from their investors. Later, some people who actually understood psychology took a cursory look at the research and went, "Holy shit, this is horrible!" Then, it became textbook example of what not to do in research that every Psychology student in Psych 101 learns on day 1. But some people still cling to it, because in addition to not understanding the difference between causation and correlation, they thrive on there own ignorant bias, or trust people who have no right to be trusted.

I have no problem with weed, but that's not the reason the gateway drug theory annoys me. The gateway theory annoys me because you don't do something that stupid to precious science.

 

[runnernda]

I think it varies from person to person. If weed gets you into harder drugs, you're probably predisposed to going toward them anyway. I've used weed and I'd do it again, and I have no desire to try any other drugs (unless we're counting alcohol, caffeine and Fun Dip as drugs). Cocaine, meth, heroin, etc just don't appeal to me. I don't think it's a valid argument against the legalization, personally.

 

[Oinodaemon]

so this is an argument I hear for against the legalisation

now to be this doesnt make all that much sense...ok Ive never done it so I really wouldnt know but..

I mean how would it be a gateway drug anymore than alchohol? to me its ALCHOHOL that seems to be the gateway drug I mean once you start getting into drinking...then it seems logical to experiement with weed as well

is it because its illigal? I mean it has that attraction of being "forbidden" and then once you try that you go for other more hardcore drugs because they promise somthing even more hardcore?

I honestly dont know

The reason marijuana is a gate way drug has everything to do with the way authorities treat it. Think about any drug lecture you had in elementary, junior, or high school. What did they talk about the most? The way i remember, they spent 40 minutes talking about weed, and about 20 minutes going over ALL the other drugs. Pot is almost inevitably going to be the first drug tried, due to it being inexpensive and easy to get a hold of....Ok, so if you've had someone telling you something is so terrible your whole life, and you try it, and nothing bad happens, how do you feel then? Hmmm, this wasnt so bad...they were wrong, it didnt ruin my life...

;summing up; people treat marijuana like it's the worst drug, or at least really bad. If you go to six flags, and get on the Extreme first (arguably the most hardcore ride there) then all the other rides seem like childs play, or at least not so bad by comparison. The way cops and other ppl treat marijuana has the same effect on our psyche.

*basically the same thing varanimus said, but in a different context.

 

[kortin]

NO NO NO NO NO NO

I know several people who smoked weed and never did anything else, myself being one of them.

I also know people who went straight to crystal meth.

Weed isnt even a drug

Uh technically weed is a drug. Its pretty much undeniable

OT: Really, it does seem like it could make people want to try harder and harder stuff, but as someone pointed out, it may just be the suppliers egging you on

oh really.

drug
1    /drʌg/ Show Spelled [druhg] Show IPA noun, verb, drugged, drug·ging.
?noun
1.
Pharmacology . a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being.
2.
(in federal law)
a.
any substance recognized in the official pharmacopoeia or formulary of the nation.
b.
any substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or other animals.
c.
any article, other than food, intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of humans or other animals.
d.
any substance intended for use as a component of such a drug, but not a device or a part of a device.

No mention of plantlife here.

"A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function."

"Some effects may include a general alteration of conscious percerption, euphoria, feelings of well-being, relaxation or stress reduction, increased appreciation of humor, music or the arts, joviality, metacognition and introspection, enhanced recollection (episodic memory), increased sensuality, increased awareness of sensation, increased libido,[25] creative, abstract or philosophical thinking, disruption of linear memory and paranoia or anxiety. Anxiety is the most commonly reported side effect of smoking marijuana. Between 20 and 30 percent of recreational users have experienced anxiety and/or panic attacks after smoking marijuana."

Sounds to me like its altering normal bodily functions.


I think so. Its illegal, your dealer is gonna be like "hey, you like this stuff, wait till you try *insert other illegal drug here*".

Also, I am strongly against legalization because I was told, as a kid, that pot did bad stuff to your head. Frankly, I think i have to agree with that.

 

[kortin]

edit: Double post, sorry.