Meth, opioids, cocaine, heroin, and an array of synthetics open hellish holes of addiction, despair, and frequent death. And, if you listen to the wrong people, they’ll tell you cannabis is a gateway drug, too.
Cannabis is unequivocally not a gateway drug. But, to confirm that you must sometimes see the difference between cause and circumstance. Here are 6 reasons why cannabis is not a gateway drug.
1. Authoritative voices say there is not conclusive proof that cannabis is a gateway drug. The fact that marijuana use may proceed the use of hard drugs has been substantiated in some experiments on rats. But, there is no logic to the assumption that just because an event precedes another event that it causes that second event. Scholars call that fallacious thinking “post hoc ergo propter hoc.”
The National Institute of Drug Abuse addresses this issue and reports, “the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, ‘harder’ substances.” They go on to say, “An alternative to the gateway-drug hypothesis is that people who are more vulnerable to drug-taking are simply more likely to start with readily available substances such as marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with others who use drugs increases their chances of trying other drugs.”
Miriam Boeri, writing for Newsweek, even claims, “For decades, scientists who study addiction have received have received millions of dollars in government and pharmaceutical funding to perpetuate the gateway hypothesis. Many would lose their respected reputations (or continued funding) if a gateway mechanism is not a legitimate research goal.”
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23 comments:
Cheech n Chong love this
Someone who's willing to break the law to smoke pot is also willing to try stronger stuff when pot no longer does the trick
Pot is absolutely a gateway drug it's a gateway to a lifestyle.
I'll be happy when pot talk ends after legalization. The very old farts of the world keep saying its bad for you. Enough already, much bigger issues to address than what you old farts "think".
I have lupus and normal prescribed meds do not work. So I will be trying medicinal to see if it helps.
First its candy, then coffee, then alcohol and cigarettes. All these must be banned. There is no gateway, only people who never get enough and people who do.The problem is not the substance it's the person, everyone knows someone who shouldn't drink, that same person would have trouble with any substance.
7:15 and 7:26: Both of you think you're in the know. You are mistaken. I've been smoking for almost 20 years. Never tried the "stronger stuff!" Also, if a firefighter and an educater is a seedy lifestyle, well there it is. You would be surprised how many quiet pot smokers there are. I can't teach with a hangover, but pot? There is no morning after problems. A cigarette causes more health issues! Pot is not a drug. I don't care who says otherwise.
8:41 exactly!
Been smoking for yeas and have never tried anything else. Also a small business owner and employer, been married many years, raised successful children, all while partaking in a natural substance. Never once has it negatively affected my life, my family, or my business. Alcohol, on the other hand, has given me hangovers and made me less productive. But what do I know, I'm just a junkie pothead, right?
8:33 Thank you. A voice of reason that gets it.
7:15 & 7:26 Your ignorance is showing.
Beer is the ultimate gateway drug (alcohol), and every teenager knows that. It is the easiest mind altering drug for them to obtain at the earliest age. All other experimentation with other substances, including marijuana, comes after beer.
Lol there are several states were its 100% LEGAL, so not everyone that tries it is breaking the law.
Just because you (8:41 & 9:17) have been smoking for years and never went on to anything "harder" does not negate the fact, marijuana is a gateway drug. Maybe you did not move on to anything else but the vast majority (like 99.9%) of the people who did move on to harder drugs began their drug use with marijuana. To say not it is a gateway drug because YOU didn't go on to anything else is ridiculous.
Lol there are several states were its 100% LEGAL, so not everyone that tries it is breaking the law.
September 22, 2017 at 11:50 AM:
Ah, but therein lies the conundrum. Although a state can make it legal under state law, it remains VERY illegal under federal law. Marijuana is a schedule one drug, just like heroin and cocaine, under federal law. In those states that legalize marijuana, their law is illegal under federal law.
Funny, its the Northern states that are rushing to legalize it. If they were the Southern states, the feds would go after them.
2:04 Where did you get the figure of 99.9%? So is everyone who drinks an alcoholic? Everyone that smokes pot a drug addict? Your philosophy is flawed and you should really do some research on the subject. It's like 8:33 said. If you have an addictive personality you will most likely abuse many substances regardless of whether it's food or a drug or alcohol. If you realized how many people smoke pot and live productive lives you would realize that you are completely wrong. Instead you would rather listen to what our government tells you and not bother to think for yourself. Baaaa
11:19 you are absolutely correct. People do not realize that!!!!
11:50. Colorado was first to legalize it, and they are not a northern state. The argument is not about what the government's law is.
Funny, no logical counter-point made for responsible cannabis use. Just a bunch of made up statistics and people who really don't know anything, but are likely past their first Friday evening drink. I hope they already went out for cigarettes, and not gonna drink and drive if they run out.
2:04: 8:41 here. You are 100% wrong. I don't need a source, since you are just making up statistics. Just because YOU say it's a gateway drug does not validate anything. What's your expertise on the topic to validate anything you say? You sound like a liberal to me. Whatever you think is fact and that means I should think that, too. I have 20 years experience, you have nothing. So, it's well past 4:20 and it's the weekend. Time to relax and enjoy it. Don't you think?
6:08 🙌🏻
9:17: @8:41 Thank you, sir. I hope I've been a customer of yours! You sure sound like the sketchy sort 7:15 and 7:26 says we are! Have a great weekend!
6:30: Sorry, brother. I don't speak emoji. Are you saying you're Moe Howard? Did I just show my age? I'm only 40ish.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Someone who's willing to break the law to smoke pot is also willing to try stronger stuff when pot no longer does the trick
September 22, 2017, at 7:15 AM
When exactly does that occur? I never knew pot had a "shelf life" so to speak. This comment and others you made following this one are just plain ignorant of the facts.
You don't have to take my word or anyone else's word on this topic. It is freely available on the web and even from gov't sources, you seem to follow for your draconian views on the subject.
BTW, I don't currently smoke pot but I did when I was younger and didn't really like it much. Now that I am older and hopefully wiser, I and half-heartedly searching for it to smoke again. Not for the high, or any gateway lol, but I have health issues I believe it will help with.
BTW again, you can believe anything you wish, it doesn't bother me I just think you are wrong. But no amount of presenting facts and figures to you, or name calling, or anything else, will ever change your mind I think. And that's fine with me too. One rarely, if ever, changes anyone's mind with an internet debate.
You are probably older, as am I, who was taught early in life that pot was bad, a gateway drug with no medicinal value and all the other "facts' that have since been disproven and rejected.
I don't see how you or anyone else can still continue to deny the benefits of pot when there are so many studies, trials, and video evidence to the contrary. But that is your right, so be it.
I won't lose any sleep over your mistaken beliefs as I am sure (well not really so sure) you will not lose any sleep over my use or anyone's use of pot.
You are correct in stating that pot is still against federal law currently. But I expect that will change in the not so far future. Congress has already displayed interest in why pot is scheduled in such a high category like heroin and cocaine and others when it is quite obvious to THEM that pot is NOT as dangerous or hurtful like the other drugs in that category.
They may still classify pot as illegal in some degree but I think they will be at least lowering the classification of pot to a much more realistic level.
FYI, pot has been used for thousands of years as MEDICINE in just about every corner of the globe. This too is documented and verifiable.
So, peace to you and please don't judge your fellow man too harshly by them using what you feel is something bad, illegal, immoral, useless or whatever it is that makes you feel that way. Everything is not for everybody.
7:55 How about a 👍🏻
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