For decades, prohibitionists have claimed that marijuana is a “gateway drug” that inevitably leads to use of harder substances like heroin and cocaine — despite the fact that every objective study ever done on the gateway theory has determined that it’s absolute crap.
Last week, researchers at the University of New Hampshire released yet another study discrediting the gateway theory. Their findings, based on survey data from more than 1,200 students in Florida public schools, showed that a person’s likelihood to use harder drugs has more to do with social and environmental factors than whether or not they’ve ever tried marijuana.
“There seems to be this idea that we can prevent later drug problems by making sure kids never smoke pot,” lead researcher Dr. Karen Van Gundy, associate professor of sociology at UNH, told CBS News. “But whether marijuana smokers go on to use other illicit drugs depends more on social factors like being exposed to stress and being unemployed – not so much whether they smoked a joint in the eighth grade.”
These findings echo virtually every other previous study done on the topic. In 2008, for example, the RAND Corporation found that “[t]he gateway theory has little evidence to support it, despite copious research,” and the federal government’s own Institute of Medicine, in a report commissioned by the drug czar’s office, has declared that “[t]here is no evidence that marijuana serves as a stepping stone [to other drugs] on the basis of its particular physiological effect.”
In a news release last week, the UNH researchers urged American drug policy makers to reconsider current penalties in light of their findings. “Employment in young adulthood can protect people by ‘closing’ the marijuana gateway, so over-criminalizing youth marijuana use might create more serious problems if it interferes with later employment opportunities,” Van Gundy said.
Of course, no one should expect these findings to have much of an impact on prohibitionists’ rhetoric, since that would require them to acknowledge, well … reality. But it was encouraging to see this study reported in such mainstream news outlets as The Los Angeles Times, Business Week, and CBS News. The next time some dishonest prohibitionist tries to call marijuana a gateway drug in print or on the air, any reporter or anchor worth their salt should be able to point out that there isn’t any scientific evidence to support the gateway theory. But maybe that’s wishful thinking.
considering that the gateway theory was originally was meant to be that a person using marijuana, because more people use marijuana then any other substance which in its self debunks the modern theory, is more likely to be around other substances therefore giving them greater chance to use the substance. This theory was always based around environment it is just that our government twisted to use is as propaganda. Again if the modern gateway theory was correct then you would have many more heroin users just based on the number of marijuana users.
Pot is not a gateway drug. Most people get a hold of alcohol and cigarettes first. Those are the gateway drugs!
You got that right TxGrandma420.
No matter what the facts are, nothing can shake the beliefs inside the mind of a prohibitionist. To them it doesn’t hurt to lie or to deny the truth just to keep marijuana illegal and away from children. Prohibition is an evil cult! There is nothing good about them.
@#4 Joel
That is true, but the best way to battle their asinine arguement when they bring it up is this.
This is my all purpose answer on any comment forum when ever the “Gateway” card is played.
@ “insert name here”, Do cigarettes lead to marijuana? Does coffee lead to cigarettes? Does soda lead to coffee? Does koolaid lead to soda? Do cookies lead to koolaid? How far back do you want to go with this arguement? Should we outlaw masterbation before we have a society of rapist’s?
That answer just about covers every vise that, unless you live in a box, no one can consiously fight back about.
I usually get many “likes” or “thumbs up” and never a responce from the self rightous prohib, let alone no further posts what so ever.
Scheduling cannabis as a narcotic is the gateway!:
When I first tried cannabis I found its affects to be so much less than the anti-drug hype that built it up. All those years in school when they told us we would turn into “put your version of the hype here”. Then you try it and realize it is weaker than alcohol, doesn’t last as long and was really nothing like what they said (they lied).
So I am left with this feeling that they lied about this stuff and it’s weaker than alcohol. Using simple logic… narcotics, that are scheduled the same as cannabis, must be safe too.
They are sending the wrong message by scheduling this plant as a narcotic.
The Prohibitionist that changed the United States in 1991, came into power through the former first lady Nancy Reagan during the late 1980′s by exploiting children. Exploiting older teenage children wasn’t very successful but exploiting children under the age of 9 became their “wild card” in persuading people to blindly accept the prohibition ideologies. It doesn’t take much to brain wash caring parents by tapping into the parent’s emotional fears. Children are the prohibitionist main weapon.
Unfortunately, the children will grow up in a controlled heartless and jobless society of no freedom because the “Drug War” has gotten worse. They too will be tested and searched often as potential criminals like their parents.
Joel
The worst mind fuck of the whole situation is. The Prohibitionist movement of the 80′s-90′s was the same people who funded the Iranians and Contra’s with weapons purchased with funds from the CIA bringing in ton’s of cocaina into the USA.
So…the prohibs brought in tons of coke, sold it to the american public, used to money to fund a black op’s war, then declared we have a drug problem after said war was over, and preceeded to lock up anyone who was hooked on the junk that they (the prohibs) brought in in the first place.
It’s what buisness’s call “sweathearting”. When inventory goes missing. Someone steals and rats out everyone else to make it apear that it’s not them. In this case George Bush Sr. had oil on his mind in South America and Iran and to fill his pockets he concocted along with the CIA the Shell Game con I mentioned above. Funny thing is the newsreporter that connected all the dots with proof and testemoney from whistelblowers was killed in his sleep one night shortly after “black vans” where seen staking out his house.
Youtube it. There is a very detailed documentary.
Also kind of funny that when the coke money was dwindeling and the IRAN/CONTRA scandle broke that when the DEA funding more then doubled to take on cannabis arrests, or if you will, fresh income.
Cannabis is a gateway, to enlightenment. Prohibition is the gateway to misery.
Paul @ #8
That was the time when William Casey was the Director of the CIA.
Lot of weird things happen during that time 1981-1987.
Aids, Crack, and lots of Cocaine.
Most of my information was from the History Channel and also living through those times.
I’ll check out YouTube.
If cannabis is a gateway drug, where are the tens of millions of hard drug users in this country?
Casey’s grave is in Holy Rood cemetary, Westbury, NY (Long Island). Feel free to urinate on his (and every other prohibs)grave.
“gateway drug” …seriously, it always helps me find the gateway to my fridge.
It’s amazing that anyone with the ability to turn on a computer and get online would fall for the ‘gateway’ theory.
Sure, sure, if only cannabis had never existed we wouldn’t have anyone that likes to get high on cocaine, heroin, or meth. Let’s just forget that crack and crystal meth are products of prohibition.
Not only is the gateway theory hokum, it’s not even valid that cannabis is the true gateway drug as it isn’t even the first illegal mind altering drug most addicts try. “What was the first illegal drug you tried?” the researcher asks the heroin addict. The addict thinks a moment and says “cannabis!” At this point the researcher needs to point out to the heroin addict that alcohol is a drug, and is an illegal drug to those who haven’t reached the legal drinking age. It is a very rare person who starts getting high after the age of 21. The rare addict that doesn’t develop until later in life is almost certainly a product of the medical use of opioid drugs, likely has never drunk himself into a stupor, and almost certainly has no history with cannabis. People do seem to forget that hospitals produce a number of addicts every year. The reason that hospital produced opioid addicts switch from oxycodone (or whichever medically legal opioid to heroin is because heroin is much cheaper than pharmaceutical grade opioids and also requires no doctor’s prescription.
I’ve never heard that Sigmund Freud was a pothead. So how do gateway theorists reconcile his infatuation with cocaine to their precious piece of propaganda? Everyone reading this does know that Sigmund Freud was a significant promoter of cocaine before he invented his psychobabble theories, and is likely the main reason that cocaine was introduced into the US, right? Google it if you’re skeptical. “Sigmund Freud”+cocaine
It really is amazing the amount of damage this one man did to the collective psyche of the United States, as well as he’s remembered as somehow a contributor rather than the psychotic destroyer which was his true role in society. Right, right, I’d probably understand if I didn’t find my mother to be such a desirable piece of ass.
LOL @ Duncan – dude leave Freud out of it.
Cannabis is NOT a gateway to harder drugs…it IS a gateway to the black market though. If prohibitionists cared at all about people using hard drugs (since supposedly its to protect people from harder drugs?) they would seperate the two markets so that the many many people who are looking for cannabis aren’t marketed by unscrupulous dealers who dont care about the people buying…