alcohol is more often than not the first intoxicant used by teens. simply because of legality, availability, and sex appeal. Alcohol is promoted almost everywhere, so even before a teen understands what being drunk means they can identify which logo represents which brand.
Because of this I personally say alcohol is the GATEWAY drug. I mean c'mon it's in almost every household. If a child wanted to get high obviously the easiest thing to get is in dad's liquor cabinet. After a while the appeal of alcohol isn't what it used to be, however there is no shortage of other substances to try out!!!
I feel this is when marijuana comes into most peoples lives. I don't think the average pot head just picked up a joint before ever having had a beer or shot. After smoking herb the user is able to clearly identify the differences between the two substances. Marijuana is definitely a gateway drug, but it's gateway isn't only limited to other drugs. The main reason a person stays away from weed is because of how it is shown on the news, on silly above the influence commercials, and how anyone we are supposed to look up to, looks down on it. Until you smoke and show yourself the truth behind the herb, the media seems to have a good point. That is until you become comfortable with being high, then a whole new wave comes at you.
You start to realize that it's not so bad, or at least not as bad as everyone had you believe. You realize many of the things you have heard or seen are just simply not true at all. This leads to one very common conclusion.... I've been lied to my whole life about a plant. It's not a good feeling to realize your own government can make up lies and scare tactics just to persuade its population to stay away from a natural, mostly harmless plant. But it doesn't just end there... This is where the marijuana gateway starts. If you enjoy drugs, you take the lesson learned from pot and apply it to mushrooms and acid. "are these drugs really as bad as i've been told? Can I really go insane? The things I was told about weed were lies so maybe these are too" which then leads to further exploration of drugs. The gateway doesn't just lead to drug exploration though, it leads to everything. It almost changes the way you think about everything around you. The next time someone tells you some startling fact about blah blah blah... instead of automatically agreeing, you use your brain and ask questions to find the real truth for yourself.
