Quote:
Originally posted by Dick Young
I'm not a big fan of smoking, regardless of what's inside the paper, but I think the "gateway drug" concept may need a little work. Saying that everyone using heroin started out by smoking pot is not the same as saying that everyone who smokes pot is going to move to heroin.
Based on my experiences with drug users, I think most people who get into coke or heroine are predisposed to that sort of thing, and will eventually get to it whether they start out with pot or not. I also know a number of people who use pot regularly and have no interest in anything harder.
Please don't take this as a defense of drug use. It's really a criticism of the gateway drug idea.
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Actually, petesvx2 is correct stating it is a gateway. A 1993 John Hopkins study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association states "The risk of using cocaine is 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it"
We aren't talking three or four times higher chance, but 104 times higher. That's 10,400% greater chance. You saying that it depends on the person's disposition is the chicken vs. egg argument. If you are predisposed to try marijuana, you have the high potential to be predisposed to other drugs. If you fight your predisposition and avoid pot... you may lead down a much less destructive road.
Now, let me state for the record that I don't think drugs should be outlawed. I think they should be regulated, taxed, and litigated just like alcohol and tobacco distributors are. That would end the dealer subculture in a heartbeat. The cops may be ineffective in stopping the drug trade, but the IRS certainly would be successful in tracking it down and taxing it.
Doug