I think if you're worried about drug abuse, prescription drugs should be on your radar far more so than marijuana. Adderall, for instance, is very easy to get and can be addictive. Deaths from prescription pain killers are quite a bit higher than the next nearest drug (more than cocaine and heroin combined). I think the idea of a gateway drug is a canard, but I think if you wanted to make that case prescriptions would be far more of the logical starting point.

I think if you're worried about drug abuse, prescription drugs should be on your radar far more so than marijuana. Adderall, for instance, is very easy to get and can be addictive. Deaths from prescription pain killers are quite a bit higher than the next nearest drug (more than cocaine and heroin combined). I think the idea of a gateway drug is a canard, but I think if you wanted to make that case prescriptions would be far more of the logical starting point.

Go to the library of a public university on finals week. The rate of Adderall use will blow you away.

Absolutely. And when people turn a blind eye to it, I shake my head. It's really a gateway drug to stuff that is so much worse for kids.

 

There is no evidence to prove that it is a gateway drug.

 

1999, in a report commissioned by Congress by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy concluded:

 

Patterns in progression of drug use from adolescence to adulthood are strikingly regular. Because it is the most widely used illicit drug, marijuana is predictably the first illicit drug most people encounter. Not surprisingly, most users of other illicit drugs have used marijuana first. In fact, most drug users begin with alcohol and nicotine before marijuana — usually before they are of legal age.

 

In the sense that marijuana use typically precedes rather than follows initiation of other illicit drug use, it is indeed a "gateway" drug. But because underage smoking and alcohol use typically precede marijuana use, marijuana is not the most common, and is rarely the first, "gateway" to illicit drug use. There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.

 

 

12-year University of Pittsburgh study.

The Pitt researchers tracked 214 boys beginning at ages 10-12, all of whom eventually used either legal or illegal drugs. When the boys reached age 22, they were categorized into three groups: those who used only alcohol or tobacco, those who started with alcohol and tobacco and then used marijuana (gateway sequence) and those who used marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco (reverse sequence).

 

Nearly a quarter of the study population who used both legal and illegal drugs at some point – 28 boys – exhibited the reverse pattern of using marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco, and those individuals were no more likely to develop a substance use disorder than those who followed the traditional succession of alcohol and tobacco before illegal drugs, according to the study, which appears in this month’s issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

I think if you're worried about drug abuse, prescription drugs should be on your radar far more so than marijuana. Adderall, for instance, is very easy to get and can be addictive. Deaths from prescription pain killers are quite a bit higher than the next nearest drug (more than cocaine and heroin combined). I think the idea of a gateway drug is a canard, but I think if you wanted to make that case prescriptions would be far more of the logical starting point.

 

Agreed. I'm pretty sure a lot of my former co-workers would take me to task for this stance; but I always thought that the whole "marijuana is a gateway drug" thing was little more than a scare tactic.

 

Of course, the only real experience I can draw upon is my own. I was never tempted to try anything else; but as we know, studies with an n of 1 may not be especially valid or reliable.

Absolutely. And when people turn a blind eye to it, I shake my head. It's really a gateway drug to stuff that is so much worse for kids.

 

I don't believe in the whole "gateway" drug theory. Some people have more addictive personalities and that's what leads them to try harder stuff.

Marijuana isn't a gateway drug. If it is then I should be cracked out, methed out and homeless in Lexington right now after all of the weed I smoked from 1993-1998.

 

I have never done any chemically addicting drug for recreational use. Ever. Gateway drug my behind.

Absolutely. And when people turn a blind eye to it, I shake my head. It's really a gateway drug to stuff that is so much worse for kids.

I don't think that is an accurate statement! I do not smoke it but I think it should be legalized.

Chemically I don't think pot is a gateway drug. However, for addictive personalities, I think reefer is a stepping stone to something stronger/different. I have no scientific data, nor do I have any straw poll or analysis to draw my conclusion from. Just logically speaking, if you legalize marijuana, would you not be enabling (moreso, because I'm not saying if you want it, you can't get it) those who have a propensity to addictive lifestyle? Serious question.

Chemically I don't think pot is a gateway drug. However, for addictive personalities, I think reefer is a stepping stone to something stronger/different. I have no scientific data, nor do I have any straw poll or analysis to draw my conclusion from. Just logically speaking, if you legalize marijuana, would you not be enabling (moreso, because I'm not saying if you want it, you can't get it) those who have a propensity to addictive lifestyle? Serious question.

 

That is an interesting point, but I'd rather have people with addictive personalities smoking weed, than drinking alcohol. No people die of marijuana poisoning or have liver failure from consistent marijuana use.

 

The Government would also have more money to attack the chemical drugs that kill many people and tear apart families, and it could make it much harder for these drugs to be obtained.

Chemically I don't think pot is a gateway drug. However, for addictive personalities, I think reefer is a stepping stone to something stronger/different. I have no scientific data, nor do I have any straw poll or analysis to draw my conclusion from. Just logically speaking, if you legalize marijuana, would you not be enabling (moreso, because I'm not saying if you want it, you can't get it) those who have a propensity to addictive lifestyle? Serious question.

 

It's hard to say because everyone is different. I probably smoked weed everyday from 1993-1998. I would then only smoke on occasion and pretty much quit once my kids got older. I made the conscious decision to never use chemically addicting illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin, meth, etc because I know I have an addictive personality. Kicking cigarettes is one of the hardest things I have ever done but I did that cold turkey. Not everyone can do that. I could very easily be an alcoholic but I do a good job of moderating myself as I will likely never not be a beer drinker. If marijuana were legal would I smoke it? Yeah. If my wife lets me.

 

The point I want to make is that people that feel the desire to intoxicate themselves will do so whether it's weed, alcohol, illegal drugs, etc. I don't think the legalization of marijuana will enable worse addictions down the road. I have always felt that the company you keep is the telltale sign as to how you end up in life. It was a lot easier for me to quit smoking weed, drinking too much and smoking cigarettes when I surrounded myself around people who don't exhibit those types of behaviors.

Chemically I don't think pot is a gateway drug. However, for addictive personalities, I think reefer is a stepping stone to something stronger/different. I have no scientific data, nor do I have any straw poll or analysis to draw my conclusion from. Just logically speaking, if you legalize marijuana, would you not be enabling (moreso, because I'm not saying if you want it, you can't get it) those who have a propensity to addictive lifestyle? Serious question.

I'm not buying it for them, so I don't really see it as enabling them.

That is an interesting point, but I'd rather have people with addictive personalities smoking weed, than drinking alcohol. No people die of marijuana poisoning or have liver failure from consistent marijuana use. The Government would also have more money to attack the chemical drugs that kill many people and tear apart families, and it could make it much harder for these drugs to be obtained.

 

Long term it can't be good for you lungs. Maybe not as bad as cigarettes, but I would think that smoking anything over a period of years is not good for you.

Long term it can't be good for you lungs. Maybe not as bad as cigarettes, but I would think that smoking anything over a period of years is not good for you.

Very true, but there are ways of taking marijuanawithout smoking it i.e. baked goods and vaporizers.

I'm not buying it for them, so I don't really see it as enabling them.

Personally perhaps, but I'm talking bigger picture, and you knew that.

 

Another question. For those who drank in high school, did you drink more when you were 21 and legal? My theory is that there will be an enormous increase in recreational use obviously if it's not prohibited. If that premise is correct, how many more impaired drivers, etc. will there be?

Personally perhaps, but I'm talking bigger picture, and you knew that.

 

Another question. For those who drank in high school, did you drink more when you were 21 and legal? My theory is that there will be an enormous increase in recreational use obviously if it's not prohibited. If that premise is correct, how many more impaired drivers, etc. will there be?

I know, but my answer remains the same. The government isn't handing out weed...

 

I definitely drank in excess a lot more before I was 21 (or shortly after turning 21) than I do now. Now that it is legal, I drink recreationally and responsibly. Initially I agree that there will be an enormous increase in recreational use but I do think it will taper down to something similar to it's current use. Going back to the premise of this thread, weed is here and it's much more prevalent than it used to be. The responsible thing to me is to regulate it and try to cut down on the trafficking violence associated with it's illegality.