Don't Blame Pot -- There's No Such Thing as a "Gateway Drug"

The surging debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana has brought with it the resurrection of the "gateway theory," which alleges that experimenting with marijuana leads to the use of harder drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. The gateway debate was reborn last week, thanks to a video of FBI director Robert Mueller testifying before Congress that marijuana should be illegal because it leads to more dangerous drug use.

Although the Mueller video has provoked amusement on pot-friendly websites, the unfortunate reality is that the "gateway drug" stigma continues to present an impediment to the reform of marijuana laws. A new Rasmussen poll found that a large percentage of Americans believe the gateway argument:

The new survey also shows that nearly half of voters (46%) believe marijuana use leads to use of harder drugs. Thirty-seven percent (37%) do not see marijuana as a "gateway" drug.

Revealingly, the percentage who opposed marijuana legalization and the percentage who believed in the gateway theory were identical, both coming in at exactly 46%. As we look for ways to persuade those who remain opposed to marijuana reform, it's clearly in our interest to work towards demolishing the pernicious gateway theory once and for all. Let's take a look at what the data shows.

In 1999, the National Institute on Drug Abuse commissioned a major study on medical marijuana conducted by the venerable Institute of Medicine, which included an examination of marijuana's potential to lead to other drug use. In simple terms, the researchers explained why the gateway theory was unfounded:

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.
…
There is no conclusive evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are causally linked to the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs.

In 2006, the University of Pittsburgh released a more thorough study in which researchers spent 12 years tracking a group of subjects from adolescence into adulthood and documented the initiation and progression of their drug use. The researchers found that the gateway theory was not only wrong, but also harmful to properly understanding and addressing drug abuse:

This evidence supports what’s known as the common liability model, an emerging theory that states the likelihood that someone will transition to the use of illegal drugs is determined not by the preceding use of a particular drug but instead by the user’s individual tendencies and environmental circumstances.

“The emphasis on the drugs themselves, rather than other, more important factors that shape a person’s behavior, has been detrimental to drug policy and prevention programs,” Dr. Tarter said. “To become more effective in our efforts to fight drug abuse, we should devote more attention to interventions that address these issues, particularly to parenting skills that shape the child’s behavior as well as peer and neighborhood environments.”

Of course, the simplest refutation of the gateway theory is the basic fact that most marijuana users just don't use other drugs. As the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports:

More than 100 million Americans have tried marijuana; 14.4 million Americans are estimated to be "past-month" users. Yet there are only an estimated 2,075,000 "past-month" users of cocaine and 153,000 "past-month" users of heroin. [DrugWarFacts]

Clearly, people who use marijuana overwhelmingly do not move on to other drug use. That's why the number of people who use marijuana will always be more than 10 times greater than the number of people who use cocaine, heroin, etc. The fact that marijuana users rarely become involved in other drug use is right here in front of us.

Unfortunately, there is one important way in which marijuana use can result in exposure to other more dangerous drugs. Laws against marijuana have created an unregulated black market, in which criminals control the supply and may attempt to market more dangerous drugs to people who just want marijuana. As the Journal of the American Medical Association reported in 2003:

Alternatively, experience with and subsequent access to cannabis use may provide individuals with access to other drugs as they come into contact with drug dealers. This argument provided a strong impetus for the Netherlands to effectively decriminalize cannabis use in an attempt to separate cannabis from the hard drug market. This strategy may have been partially successful as rates of cocaine use among those who have used cannabis are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States."

Ironically, the only real gateway that exists is created by marijuana prohibition, yet proponents of harsh marijuana laws cynically cite the damage they've caused as evidence that the drug itself is acutely harmful. It's truly the height of absurdity, yet it persists despite the mountain of categorical data I've outlined above.

The point here isn’t just that marijuana isn’t actually a "gateway drug," but that there really is no such thing as a gateway drug to begin with. The term was invented by hysterical anti-drug zealots for the specific purpose of linking marijuana with harmful outcomes that couldn’t otherwise be established. Everyone knows marijuana is completely non-lethal, but if it leads to sticking needles in your arm, anything's possible. Through repeated use, the term began to stick and we're now confronted with a marijuana legalization debate in which 46% of the country believes an antiquated, widely-refuted fabrication that erroneously renders marijuana as deadly and unpredictable as anything a scared parent can imagine.

It's perfectly typical of the unhinged drug war demagogues that one of their most popular anti-pot propaganda points doesn't even actually have anything to do with pot. Their tireless reliance on such nonsense may go a long way towards explaining why support for legalization is growing faster than ever before.


Don't Blame Pot -- There's No Such Thing as a "Gateway Drug"
Scott Morgan
AlterNet
5.29.09

Link!

ill say it again, i smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol long before i ever smoked, or even knew what marijuana was.

I find this so funny because I used harder drugs before Marijuana hahahahahaha

if pot was legal i doubt people would do as many hard drugs they can get other shit off the same dealer ya know, if you can buy pot in a shop people would prefer pot than dealing with sketchy drug dealers which wouldmake less people move on to other things but i like my drug dealers there my "friends" hahaha they want my money i want there drugs everything is perfect

I used dextroamphetamine, psilocin, 5-MeO-DMT and (obviously) ethanol and good-old-fashioned nicotine before ever trying weed. I wonder what the 'gateway drug' crowd would think if I mentioned that one of my earliest "drug experiences" was with 5-methoxy-dimethyltryptamine? I guess it did open a gateway...to a superior state of being/consciousness/life itself.

it's either all or nothing, to me. if there is such thing as a gateway drug, then every single drug is a gateway drug. it's a stupid term. i've known people who started out doing coke and pharmies before ever trying pot. the theory is basically bullshit. when drugs are illegal, and theres crime, thats when people get introduced to "harder stuff"... when i did drugs id ask random homeboy if he had any weed "no but i have these blue pills, and they're cheaper!" i rest my case.

The gateway drug theory is bullshit and we have all known it for a long ass time, its good to see an article pointing this out and providing logic that proves it is nonsense. The "gateway drug" is pretty much the most classic example off the top of my head of blatant scaremongering through baseless assumptions and outright lies that the Government has engaged in.

it's as if saying spinning is a gateway drug
heh, quite funny.

I tried nicotine and alcohol way before pot. But I was on SSRIs like Paxil, Prozac, and Zoloft for 7 years, starting when I was 8 years old. Those are heavy, hard drugs. They really fuck with your head, and they are powerful. The whole reason I didn't have a problem with pot when I was first offered a hit is because I had already been on drugs for 6 years (the antidepressants), and shit like alcohol and cigarettes really sucked to me. I was 14 years old, and I tried it, and got nothing out of it, probably because I was on 300mg Zoloft a day. I tried it again about 7 months later, after I got off of Zoloft, and I got high as shit and enjoyed the hell out of it. I would be lying, though, to say that it didn't eventually make me want to try other shit. By "eventually" I mean about 18-24 months later. It made me be like: "Well, pot sure didn't hurt me, so I doubt this other shit could be as bad as the government makes them out to be". Everyone always talked about how horrible pot was, and how it will ruin your life, but it didn't ruin my life at all. So...that was my logic.

As Mark Twain commented,"There are lies, damn lies & statistics" and if you're wily enough, you can get statistics to 'prove' anything...

I always believed in the "gateway drug" theory. Now, not so much. I think that the reason I did move on to harder drugs was that they were offered - I would have started with them if they were offered to me before pot!

Funny, I only started smoking cigarettes about 8 years ago - 26 years after I first tried any illicit drugs. They are by far the most addictive substance I have ever come across!

About 8-10 years ago the then chief of police of Ottawa Canada, made a very contraversial statement regarding the legalization of marijuana while the idea was being thrown about by parliament. He said that if he could go back and change all the laws regarding alchohol and pot, that he would have made pot legal and alchohol illegal. He said that persons being arrested while drunk are very abusive and sometimes violent while he had never encountered anything of the sort from someone high on pot. His quote was very funny and went something like "the person high on cannabis is agreable and easy to get along with, they put up their hands and smile and say 'sure man! whatever you like!' ". I thought it was very funny, but at the time he was severley criticized for his comments!

He also said that a very high proportion of violent crimes are commited by persons under the influence of alchohol and create many more problems for the police.

I personally do not drink (last time was 1 beer at an xmas party 1.5 years ago - before that...? - years and years ago). While I don't get into trouble every time I drink alchohol, every time I have been in legal trouble I have been drunk! I also don't smoke pot any more - used to - a lot! I just don't feel like it any more. However, I don't believe that if I started up again that I would be any more susceptible to using harder drugs. On the other hand, I find that alchohol lowers my inhibitions and resolve and that I would be far more at risk to using under its influence

Well, that is my 2 cents worth,
thanks.

I'm a little weary about the whole "being offered other drugs by pot dealers" bit. It just hasn't been my experience, even with street level dealers, which tend to sell more profitable drugs. Usually the conversations starts with "what do you need?" There's no sales pitch for other drugs, just a quick transaction. Also, if anything, IME, a lot of serious pot dealers choose to only stick to selling that one drug, and want no part of "harder" drugs. All anecdotal stuff, of course.


As for the "gateway" theory, I could see it being plausible in one way. Pot is the first illicit drug someone tries. Before that, that person has been strictly anti-drug, and trying pot makes them realize that drugs aren't that bad as they were told. So they become curious about other things. Even that's a stretch, 'cause you could probably replace pot with just about any other illicit drug. One way that drug hysteria may end up doing the opposite of what it's meant to do.

there are many gateway drugs before pot but its still funny people think that pot is the real gateway drug.

reminds me of a time talking to a state shrink during an evaluation and shes telling me pots a gateway drug. but ms if pots THE gateway drug what about helium sugar cough syrup etc but ok pots the gateway drug ill go back to saying what i should be.

If something were to be a gateway drug, it probably be alcohol. Not the alcohol itself but more like going to parties and drinking. That is where people normally are smokin and doing other drugs. Then there is peer pressure at parties a lot of times. Mabey people are the gateway drug..?

Also, if anything, IME, a lot of serious pot dealers choose to only stick to selling that one drug, and want no part of "harder" drugs.

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IME, cannabis dealers only ever seem to carry psychedelics as additional drugs. Things like amphetamines, cocaine, opiates etc are specific to other dealers and anyone with say cocaine for sale doesn't ever bother with cannabis or psychedelics, generally labelling them as 'hippie drugs' in a quite derisive way

phrozen said:

Also, if anything, IME, a lot of serious pot dealers choose to only stick to selling that one drug, and want no part of "harder" drugs.

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While this may generally be true, I must say that I was turned on to practically everything by my weed dealer when I was younger. This guy sold weed, coke, xanax, vicoden, acid, shrooms, valium, ecstacy, adderall, etc. Pretty much anything I asked for (other than meth and heroin) he would get a big bag of, and I'd get to try it many times over before I decided if it was something I wanted regularly. Like, when I wanted to try Valium, he told me he would figure something out, then call me. Next day he told me to come over and he had several hundred of them. Another time I said I wanted to try X; a day or two later he had 2 different pills (supermans and national leagues), about 100 of each. That was the most awesome dealer ever.

fastandbulbous said:

IME, cannabis dealers only ever seem to carry psychedelics as additional drugs. Things like amphetamines, cocaine, opiates etc are specific to other dealers and anyone with say cocaine for sale doesn't ever bother with cannabis or psychedelics, generally labelling them as 'hippie drugs' in a quite derisive way

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Interesting, I have seen this too with dealers.

Also, I remember a prof in an addictions course I took and a Dr. who specialized in addiction that I saw years later, both referred to pot as a psychedelic in terms of its true action on the mind and brain. I also remember from the same course, that the drug of choice for schizophrenics is pot, something to do with the way it interacts with their thought processes and the hallucinations (not sure if that is the right way to describe the voices that a schizophrenic hears...) that they experience.

I also agree with mogle42 - what about all those other substances out there? Hell, when refined sugar from cane syrop was first produced it was kept under lock and key, like a drug. People wrote about the incredible experinces the had while "on" it!

I also agree with kroozer - it was peer pressure that got me to use coke the first time, and that after I had been drinking. I was working in a very busy restaurant and as motivation the floor manager would line up shooters with a beer chaser in the kitchen. After about 3 of these one of my co-workers told me to check out the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom where he had a couple of lines for me. I said no thanks because I was scared of coke. After 3 more rounds during the next hour and a half, he practically dragged me back with him. He basically said come on, don't be a pussy and I went for it.

I think there are many routes that people take to harder drugs, blaming pot seems too convenient, mabey even political in the face of the decriminalization debate!

The reason it's a "gateway drug" is BECAUSE it's illegal. Once you cross that line of doing illegal drugs, the rest of lines get a little fainter.

^ Agreed

I smoked pot before I ever smoked a cigarette or drank alcohol. They were completely independent decisions.

amor fati said:

The reason it's a "gateway drug" is BECAUSE it's illegal. Once you cross that line of doing illegal drugs, the rest of lines get a little fainter.

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This.

I'll grudgingly put up with having to step into the world of the criminal fringe, with all the confidence games and posturing that accompany really any group of people who live outside the law, when obtaining 'harder' drugs, on the rare occasions I use them. It's an inconvenience, but it's irregular.

But I'm outraged that I've got to step into this 'underworld', and be prepared to play all sorts of social games and engage grimy people I'd normally want nothing to do with, just because I smoke marijuana.

People who choose to smoke tobacco can walk into a store that's listed in the phone book, without having to wait for anyone to meet them. They can ask directly for what they want without playing word games. They can rest assured they're not getting shortchanged in this sale, and are getting exactly what they asked for. If they're not satisfied with the product, they can complain and get a refund. They don't have to stay on point and watch their backs at all times when buying their cigarettes. And when they run out, they can go right back any time they want and buy more, without any hassle. I can say the same thing about alcohol and prescribed pharmaceuticals -- someone buying them is afforded the luxury of remaining a good, follow-the-rules, law abiding citizen, who is free to be as naive and autopilot as he wants to be, when he buys them. None of this applies to buying marijuana, even though it's less harmful.

I bet if you went to Saudi Arabia or another country where alcohol is illegal and the ban is strictly enforced, you'd find starting drinking has this same 'jumping over to the other side of the fence' aspect to it, with a greater percentage of drinkers becoming not only alcoholics, but moving on to other illegal drugs. Hey, if I'm already a candidate for getting my head chopped off in a public arena, why not go whole hog! Pass me the syringe.