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Do you think weed is a 'gate-way' drug?

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losthippy

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There is the argument that people who start smoking cannabis will be inclined to experiment with other drugs. In my case this may have proved to be right.

Nearly forty years ago I started on weed then moved on to LSD and later cocaine (when it was cheap). I got into cough medicine for a while when I was really poor along with pharmaceutical speed and 'mandies', then went to Asia and tried opium and heroin. Fortunately, I'm acutely belenophobic (big-time fear of needles) so I have never injected. I used mushies throughout the 80's and by the mid 90's I found MDMA. Besides the noble weed, E remains my favourite recreational drug to this day.

Mates who started on weed at the same time as me have either stuck with it, smoke up only on special occasions now or have given it away altogether. Only a few of the original crew branched out into other drugs like I did and 2 of those stopped altogether when heroin killed them.

I often wonder if I hadn't enjoyed getting high on weed so much in the first place whether I would have wanted to try all the other substances I've had over the years. Whilst doing my psych degree a while back one of my texts mentioned people who have addictive personalities. Some folk get a taste for adrenalin and can't live without it, others develop a need for speed or have to push themselves to extreme physical limits to stay happy. I figured that perhaps this addictive personality trait was what drove me to experiment as I did, moreso than weed being the gateway drug that triggered my yearning for other-worldly experiences.

So, how many of you started out on weed and moved on to try other substances? Do you think there is any stock in the claim (by some) that cannabis is in fact a 'gateway' drug? What do you think?
 
I don't think there is much merit to the gateway theory no, I for one began with booze personally followed by weed (by a large margin) but I am inclined to experiment hell you only live once may as well enjoy it. In my case it was the company I kept not the substances that got me to try new stuff.
 
I think ecstasy is. When i started smoking weed i never had any intentions to do any other drugs up until i tried ecstasy at a party one time.
 
I started out on booze and smoking tobacco and then got into prescription amphetamine pills, herb, LSD, prescription opiate pills, coke, nitrous, and mushrooms.

I don't use drugs anymore at all except for caffeine, drinking alcohol socially and sometimes I'll vaporize some herb.

I used those other drugs because I wanted to, I wanted to see what they would do, in some cases with the use of psychedelics I was big into spirituality/religion/metaphysics and exploring my mind, and I wanted to get high.

In some cases such as my one time use of coke I did use the drugs because I'd hear friends talk about how they enjoyed them and coke was available so I tried it and thought it was OK but not worth the money and I did not like how it did not last very long and the crash sucked too.

I did not use those drugs because of smoking pot or because I first got buzzed on a glass of wine when I was younger. I never used MDMA or Ecstasy because it is not something that really interests me. The same goes for research chemicals.
 
The reason that marijuana has the stigma as the gateway drug is that it so prevalent everywhere. It is relatively easy to procure and it has the positive image as a safer alternative than meth or ecstasy.

Also tolerance to marijuana builds up quickly. The user finds that he/she can do most things stoned at this point, including operating a motor vehicle. Boredom and annoyance with increasing tolerance leads the user to try other drugs.

Compare this to alcohol, where the user will experience hangovers, DUIs, blackouts, nausea...and other unpleasant effects.
 
no.
i don't believe marijuana, or any other substance for that matter, is truly a "gateway" drug. it all boils down to wanting to experiment with other states of mind. for most it begins with alcohol or marijuana because these are the easiest things to get a hold of (especially at the younger ages most start dabbling at).

i didn't smoke marijuana until after i had tried a few different substances. the first i tried was alcohol. i have since experimented with many others- but it all stems from a want to alter my mind in some way. i guess i can say that if you do have this want/urge, trying one thing MAY lead you to try another, ONLY to see how each differs. then again, a lot of kids these days will take anything they can get their hands on solely to "get fucked up," rather than to experience a different level of being.

hmmmm, i don't even know if this makes sense so my simple answer is just- no.
:)
 
Very much so. Physically in the sense that your actually dealing with illegal drugs so your part of that "scene" now. Hopefully that will change soon enough with legalization :) But also in the sense of a person being high, and getting that urge to search for new, more intense highs.
 
^this.

tobacco was my first drug too.
technically alcohol, then tobacco, then cannabis.

the majority of youngsters start out with the 2 legal big ones,
usually through family adults (beer at christmas, etc etc).
this plants the seed for experimentation, by the "gateway" logic, and the child,
thanks to experiencing being high on alcohol and nicotine,
then goes out and tries heroin and cocaine and kills his granny.

we must stamp out this scurge of alcohol, it is stealing the lives of our children.

brb gotta go to the store for a pack of smokes.
 
^Kills his granny?

My first drug was caffeine, followed by opium, followed by weed. If I had never smoked pot I would still be a user of other drugs. I'm sure some people try harder drugs because of their weed use, but that has to be said of most positive experiences. If someone goes on a ride at an amusement park and they love it, then it's only logical to assume that they might go on to ride different rides. Some people who smoke weed and love it go on to do harder drugs because they liked pot and find out they enjoy being high. The same happens with alcohol and many drugs.

I don't think the gateway theory holds much water for any drug. Some people who smoke pot will end up doing other illegal drugs, most won't. Basically I agree with hellocatastrophe's post.
 
No, weed is just widely available. I started snorting Ritalin when I was 14 and that made me super interested in trying every drug known to man. I tried weed for the first time at age 16. From 17 and a half to 19 I smoked a lot of weed. 6 months after smoking weed regularly I experimented with mushrooms then a few months after that MDMA. Smoking pot provided me access to the illegal drug market but that is a byproduct of prohibition, not cannabis.
 
It isn't really the drug that is the gateway to others.. it's the people and/or your curiosity(kind of obvious). If you're around people involved with drugs than there is a higher chance that you'll get into other things seeing as there is more of a chance they'll be available
 
Salvia was my first drug. I've done other drugs. Therefore Salvia must be a gateway drug.

Except not. Marijuana does not directly lead to other substances. Unless you count potato chips and mountain dew as "substances."
 
Definitely not. I smoked weed for a few years and then stopped just because I didn't enjoy it anymore. It's been about eight years since I've smoked.

I am curious about a few other drugs and would like to try them, but certainly not because I used to smoke weed. The whole theory never made any sense to me.
 
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