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Is Marijuana a "gateway" drug? Your opinion...

CharlesTheHammer

CharlesTheHammer

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I smoked pot for the first time at age 12 in 1980. But I didnt smoke it often at all til 3-4 years later. By then, several of my closest friends had become hard-core pot-heads. By hard-core I mean if they had pot, they would smoke it as soon as they waked, they would smoke it all day, then all night, til they ran out. They would often just keep smoking til they had nothing left! When they ran out, it was a crisis! Their only priority was to get more pot, or to find someone who would get them high.

I was never a pot head, although I would smoke it when I was around them occasionally. I only wanted to smoke pot when the pot was A+ quality skunk bud, which was only available for 2-3 months after harvest season, because we knew an older dude who grew LOTS of killer quality skunk bud outdoors. If the pot was only commercial quality, I didnt want to smoke it. I enjoyed beer at that time, because pot didnt give me a euphoric feeling. I have not smoked pot for 12 years now.....

Before I first smoked pot, I didnt think I would EVER do drugs! I had recently made anti drug posters in school for extra credit, and I considered doing drugs to be like crossing a barrier into an illegal lifestyle.

After I first smoked pot, I had finally crossed that barrier, and now it was much easier to justify trying out other drugs! Now I was interested in trying out other drugs! Before, I had no desire to!

Nonetheless, I supported the 'NORML' position on marijuana legalization, and so I would agree with whatever talking points I got from NORML. When someone would ask me if pot was a 'gateway drug', I would always say NO!!

Well......Even at that time, I knew I was lying about that, because pot was CLEARLY a gateway drug for me and everyone I knew who started smoking it.
But I lied about it in order to 'help the cause' of getting it legalized some day.

Now, I dont have ANY problem telling the truth and admitting that pot is a gateway drug......

However, I did want to see marijuana legalized in CA, because I think it would've been a good state to experiment to see if there is any benefit to legalization, such as a drop in crime, and a drop in 'gang' related violent activity which is often drug related.

Anyway, when you answer this question, please dont do as I used to do, by claiming that pot wasn't or isnt a gateway drug, even if you know that it is, just because you smoke it, and you support its legalization. Be honest about your TRUE experience with pot, and the experiences of people you know/knew.

Thanks........
 
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Anyway, when you answer this question, please dont do as I used to do, by claiming that pot wasn't or isnt a gateway drug, even if you know that it is, just because you smoke it, and you support its legalization.
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lol are you asking a question and then telling us how to answer it? Want me to just copy and paste what you said? ;)

I think one big reason for it being a gateway drug is because it's illegal. There are people who only sell these drugs and then there are people that only sell those drugs but if you're in the (black) market of selling drugs chances are you're going to sell a few other things at least once or twice. Likewise if you're a consumer of black market drugs presently including marijuana then you're more likely to come into contact with these pushers and/or substances.

For instance, if I walked into a 7-11 and asked for cigarettes and they happened to be out for whatever reason (ya right, I know, work with me here) I doubt they would say "Hey, but have you tried beer? It's different but it's just as good. It's not a bad price, you should just try some. I'll hook you up for your first time". Yet there has been more than a few times when trying to get marijuana on the black market I was offered either something else as an alternative or even just to try out.

So, I disagree that marijuana is a gateway drug per se, just that the circumstances surrounding it make it seem to be so.
 
It's a gateway to meeting people that can get you other drugs. It's not a gate way drug at all, as in you get high from it then want to try all this other crap.

It will get you in the loop to get other drugs. If you buy your weed from a medical club then you wont have to deal with this.
 
For me alcohol was the gateway drug. I grew up with a parent always so worried that would drink underage, then when I did I realized it was a big fuss out of nothing. So I was curious about all those other things I was warned about using.
 
Damien said:
lol are you asking a question and then telling us how to answer it? Want me to just copy and paste what you said? ;)

I think one big reason for it being a gateway drug is because it's illegal. There are people who only sell these drugs and then there are people that only sell those drugs but if you're in the (black) market of selling drugs chances are you're going to sell a few other things at least once or twice. Likewise if you're a consumer of black market drugs presently including marijuana then you're more likely to come into contact with these pushers and/or substances.

For instance, if I walked into a 7-11 and asked for cigarettes and they happened to be out for whatever reason (ya right, I know, work with me here) I doubt they would say "Hey, but have you tried beer? It's different but it's just as good. It's not a bad price, you should just try some. I'll hook you up for your first time". Yet there has been more than a few times when trying to get marijuana on the black market I was offered either something else as an alternative or even just to try out.

So, I disagree that marijuana is a gateway drug per se, just that the circumstances surrounding it make it seem to be so.
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this guy is very right. also when you keep smoking weed ur trying to get as high as the first few times u did it, and it takes more and more and cost you more and more, when you hav no weed u feel depressed, and you wanna get high. whether u stick to smoking weed, or choose to move on to a more potent or cheaper drug is your own personal choice.. so really its not a gateway drug, its just sold as a drug, and people get it to feel good like anything else, if its not available, there gonna look for something else to make them feel good. and it coms down to how far a person is willing to go to get high. pot dosnt make you do other drugs, only yourself can
 
I believe cannabis is definitely a gateway drug. Everyone who said otherwise basically said using cannabis leads to other drug use, but it's not a gateway drug. If I'm not mistaken, that's what a gateway drug is.
 
Cannabis dealers often supply other drugs like heroin or particularly cocaine and the general lifestyle can definitely encourage harder drug use. Since people (at least in the UK) of lower of lower socioeconomic status are more likely to use cannabis, this in itself increases the odds of harder drug use.

However, there's nothing inherent in the effects of the drug that causes harder drug use. I think that's just a myth and if it were a legal it would not be an issue.
 
alcohol and cigarettes are the real gateway drugs.. most people i know including myself did those two first, then smoked weed, and then tried other drugs after the former 3.
 
I find it quite amusing when people say I did x drug and then subsequently did y and z drugs and conclude that x must therefore be a gateway drug. There are plenty of people who have had the opposite experience and one person's account is not enough to show whether or not a drug leads to the gateway effect.
 
Artificial Emotion said:
I find it quite amusing when people say I did x drug and then subsequently did y and z drugs and conclude that x must therefore be a gateway drug. There are plenty of people who have had the opposite experience and one person's account is not enough to show whether or not a drug leads to the gateway effect.
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Thank you for proving the point Ive been trying to point for years. I never really knew how to put it but you just explained it all for me.
 
For me it probably was but only in the sense that it was the first illegal drug I tried. After i realized that I had been lied to about that it made me wonder what else I had been lied to about. As it turned out, almost everything that I had learned in school about drugs was wrong.

Of course, as mymindisgoo pointed out, I smoked cigarettes and drank before I smoked pot so they should be considered the actual gateway drugs. But we know they aren't because they're the socially acceptable ones.
 
im not going to say that marijuana use inevitably leads to harder drug use because lots of people probably smoke weed and never try other drugs..

having said that, i know that if i hadnt been a pothead i wouldve been a LOT less likely to try other drugs.. i got addicted to opiates and i'm 100% sure i wouldve never tried them if i wasnt smoking weed.
 
When I first smoked weed, I thought, drugs are NOT for me as it caused me to have a massive panic attack. I have also tried ecstasy about a year later but not as a result of my experience with weed. I think weed delayed my trying of other drugs. I was so afraid to try e my first time because of what happened on weed. But my reason for trying e is because I always loved electronic music and wanted to rave and wanted to loooove.

Also my friend skipped weed altogether and did e for his first drug.

I don't think there's a correlation, maybe in some cases...but not really.
 
I guess it depends for people. The thing is marijuana is the drug that is usually around more often, and the first one to be introduced to people. I do believe heavy users tend to grow sick of using marijuana and the effects start becoming more negative, making them more lenient to trying other drugs. It is not a black and white subject at all, but i use to believe it had nothing to do with trying other drugs. Now my view have changed
 
I've had this discussion countless times with my friends, throughout various sessions of varied drug use.

Honestly, what we've generally concluded is that there is no ONE gateway drug. Every drug is a gateway drug in the sense that people get high on it, realize they enjoy the feeling, and proceed to experiment more. It doesn't necessarily have to be marijuana.

I believe the only gateway drug is the first drug you tried. Regardless if it's a cigarette, alcohol, weed, cocaine, ecstasy or any of the countless others.

We're all just psychonauts on an exploratory journey through drugdom. We all have our own gateway drug.
 
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