Gateway Drug?

[Smokin EnDo]

I completly agree that marijuana is a gateway drug. Once you smoke it you realize that drugs aren't "bad". Post your opinions. And non-biased ones i know you can be very biased twords the good effects of marijuana and just completly push away the bad ones but we all smoke it we know the secrets you dont have to lie.

[drboots13]

Im not sure what you just said but i dont believe marijuana is a gateway drug. I look at cocaine the same way i always did and i choose not to do it. Its all personal choice.

[OrangeKush]

I completly agree that marijuana is a gateway drug. Once you smoke it you realize that drugs aren't "bad". Post your opinions. And non-biased ones i know you can be very biased twords the good effects of marijuana and just completly push away the bad ones but we all smoke it we know the secrets you dont have to lie.

Marijuana was the first "drug" I ever tried. Since then I have tried almost anyything I can get my hands on. I do feel that I would probably never have done any of the others had I not done marijuana in the first place. I DONT, however, beleive that anyone who smokes will eventually move on to "harder" drugs.

I agree with you on the part about realizing that that these things arent really bad as long as youre smart about them. Good thread, im interested to see what some of the other people have to say. :thumbsup:

[bedake]

If I went to a girl and said to her "I give gateway hugs" Think I'd get more girls?

I dont think so...

[Cloud997]

Not me, yes, pot was the first drug I have used, I also have used many others, but I still would have tried every one of them with or without first smoking pot. As it turns out, pot is the only drug I enjoy, with the exception of mushrooms and LSD. That's just me though.
:stoned:

[Brother Schenker]

Tobacco was my first drug. And then booze. And then pills. And then pot. And then acid. And then shrooms. And then speed. And then coke.

Was offered PCP but was not attracted to it. Turned it down.
Same deal with heroin---but I plan to try it when I'm elderly.

I agree with the poster who said they tried pot and saw that it was good and decided to try some others.

So tobacco was the gateway drug for me.
And all those tv shows & people who acted like drugs were evil actually made me curious and made the drugs attractive: I had to see what all the fuss was about.:rasta:

I should add: before I started toking no one ever offered me pot; no peer pressure. My buddy and I had to seek it out.

[t3chyo]

"Gateway Drug?", more like a "To Getaway Drug!:)

[shoi]

i think alot of it has to do the way ppl are taught abt drugs... all u ever hear are drugs are bad and so on and so forth... they nvr say "well pot isnt as bad as meth" or somthing like that... so wen u do pot u relize that its not as bad as everyone said it was so u automatically assume that meth and heroin are the same way... just because they dont teach you that some drugs are alot worse than others....

[LIP]

I dont think cannabis is a gateway drug at all.

The idea of it being a gateway drug is "People will tire of the high and seek a drug that gives them a higher feeling"

Well, its bullshit. The only reason people go onto harder drugs after cannabis is because they are buying from a dealer, and the chance and opertunity to try other drugs is there. It's all about temptation.

If cannabis was legal and we could by it at a shop there wouldnt be othe drugs there, and that means no temptation to try anything else.

[willystylle]

For marijuana to be a 'gateway' to other drugs, it needs to be addictive maybe? The common misconception is that marijuana leads to harder drugs, but this is untrue and the statement comes from the mis-informed fact that most marijuana users also use or have used other, possibly harder drugs. This doesn't necessarily mean that marijuana promotes curiosity in other drugs, but also that people who smoke marijuana regularly often become hardcore druggies.

You have only the governments of the world and their propoganda against the marijuana industry to thank. They have blown figures out of proportion and mis-informed the public for years, until people started believing all these little white lies.

CONCLUSION: Marijuana is NOT physically addictive and therefore cannot be seen as a gateway to harder drugs, an example being that many marijuana users do not even smoke cigarettes, let alone snort cocaine. Marijuana can be pyschologically addictive, YES, but so can sex. The onus is therefore on the cannabis users to refrain from using hardcore drugs.

Dr. willystylle, P.H.W.E.E.D

[beachguy in thongs]

You have to start reading erowid.

Marijuana Myths, Claim No. 13

MARIJUANA IS A "GATEWAY" TO THE USE OF OTHER DRUGS

Advocates of marijuana prohibition claim that even if marijuana itself causes minimal harm, it is a dangerous substance because it leads to the use of "harder drugs" such as heroin, LSD, and cocaine.

THE FACTS

Most users of heroin, LSD and cocaine have used marijuana. However, most marijuana users never use another illegal drug.

Over time, there has been no consistent relationship between the use patterns of various drugs. 83

As marijuana use increased in the 1960s and 1970s, heroin use declined. And, when marijuana use declined in the 1980s, heroin use remained fairly stable.

For the past 20 years, as marijuana use-rates fluctuated, the use of LSD hardly changed at all.

Cocaine use increased in the early 1980s as marijuana use was declining. During the late 1980s, both marijuana and cocaine declined. During the last few years, cocaine use has continued to decline as marijuana use has increased slightly.

In 1994, less than 16% of high school seniors who had ever tried marijuana had ever tried cocaine - the lowest percentage ever recorded. In fact, as shown below, the proportion of marijuana users trying cocaine has declined steadily since 1986, when a high of more than 33% was recorded.

Proportion of Marijuana Users Ever Trying Cocaine

High School Seniors, 1975-1994 84

1975: 19% 1980: 27% 1985: 31% 1990: 22%
1976: 19% 1981: 28% 1986: 33% 1991: 22%
1977: 20% 1982: 27% 1987: 30% 1992: 18%
1978: 22% 1983: 28% 1988: 26% 1993: 17%
1979: 25% 1984: 29% 1989: 23% 1994: 16%

In short, there is no inevitable relationship between the use of marijuana and other drugs. This fact is supported by data from other countries. In the Netherlands, for example, although marijuana prevalence among young people increased during the past decade, cocaine use decreased - and remains considerably lower than in the United States. Whereas approximately 16% of youthful marijuana users in the U.S. have tried cocaine, the comparable figure for Dutch youth is 1.8 percent. 85 Indeed, the Dutch policy of allowing marijuana to be purchased openly in government-regulated "coffee shops" was designed specifically to separate young marijuana users from illegal markets where heroin and cocaine are sold. 86

-References
83. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1990; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Preliminary Estimates from the 1993 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

84. Johnston, L.D. et al, Monitoring the Future, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (1994).

85. Cohen, P.D.A., Cannabisgebruikers in Amsterdam, Jaarbeurs Congrescentrum Utrecht (1995).

86. Leuw, E. and Marshall, I.H. (eds)., Between Prohibition and Legalization: The Dutch Experiment in Drug Policy, Amsterdam: Kugler Publications (1994)

[graph]

I think it's already been said, but I gotta need to drive in the point.


Marijuana's a gateway drug because it's illegal. Many people come to the conclusion that since weed's illegal but not that bad, other drugs can't be as bad as they say as well.

I think alcohol is the worst gateway drug. I mean, the only time I've done hard drugs alcohol was involved. A lot. What a great night that was.

[orangeman]

I completly agree that marijuana is a gateway drug. Once you smoke it you realize that drugs aren't "bad". Post your opinions. And non-biased ones i know you can be very biased twords the good effects of marijuana and just completly push away the bad ones but we all smoke it we know the secrets you dont have to lie.

First off marijuana isnt a drug, it's a plant that produces psychoactive glands that also serves a purpose of keeping insects off of the flowers. Why it gets us high? I dont know but I can tell you that me and almost everyone on this forum is a prime example of why marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. I will stick with marijuana till I die. I've been doin it since 13 and you dont see me going around asking for crack rocks and heroin and shit like that. I dont wanna be an addictive fuck, fuck up half my life, have to go thru detox and a fucking embarassing rehab program. So why would I go off and try something else? It has no bad effects on me and I DO realize other drugs are bad...for example there are quite a few celebs that died from other drugs, like ODB died from an overdose of cocaine and a perscription drug. Marijuana doesnt kill and it doesnt send your life downhill. Fuck off, get banned, thank you :).

[Reefer Rogue]

C'mon guys, this gateway theory has been disproven since ages ago.

[beachguy in thongs]

And it shuts down the receptors that get you addicted to those drugs "on the other side of the gate".

[daima]

Marijuana was the first "drug" I ever tried. Since then I have tried almost anyything I can get my hands on. I do feel that I would probably never have done any of the others had I not done marijuana in the first place. I DONT, however, beleive that anyone who smokes will eventually move on to "harder" drugs.

I agree with you on the part about realizing that that these things arent really bad as long as youre smart about them. Good thread, im interested to see what some of the other people have to say. :thumbsup:

MMMM i am a firm believer in the fact that the first drugs we start out with are usually, caffeine, asprin, tobacco, cough syrup, etc etc. Our foods are full of drugs/chemicals.

dai*ma:stoned:

[3rdEyeVision]

Its basically impossible for weed to be a gateway drug, thats just a crappy ecxuse for all the pansy's that cant admit THEY have a problem with drugs.......its ALL your personalitie not weed. If weed was a gateway drug how did you get started smoking it in the first place.....I highly doubt you were pressured to smoke weed till you like it. You smoke weed cause you like "drugs", its not weed leading to other drugs its certain people that cant handle temptation and whatnot. Weed isnt a powerfull enough addiction to make you smoke crack when you've smoked your 1/8, the people who think its a gateway drug just use it as a excuse, if they didnt start smoking weed everyday they would have become alchoholics or something it just your personality.....get over it

[kracks]

for me extacy was a gate way drug. i had tried alcohol before pot, put i loved pot for a long time before trying x. it was e that made me rally interested in drugs, as it was a completely different expirience, and so i went on to try mushrooms (which before i though as a 'nasty' hallucinogen) turns out i fucking love tripping, so i use them from time to time. if i had not tried it i might have never gone to Erowid.com!

[Tray7]

It's not the gateway drug... That's just what people who have no self controll say to make themselves feel better. I have always thought .. hmm, yeah, I'll probably smoke weed some day and maybe a little shroom here or there.. but I will never do cocaine or X or anything like that. To this day I still haven't had the urge to have a stronger "fix". So, I guess it depends on the person. Just goes to show how week some poeple are.

[3rdEyeVision]

ya exactly I smoked for the first time in grade 3 or 4 and started smoking everyday in grade 5, the worst drug Ive done is mush and Ive only done it three times, I probably wont even do it anymore because I like being in total controll of my head and what im thinking and stuff......not a gateway drug just a mild one that some people choose to start with.

[thcbongman]

The whole "gateway" theory is a bunch of horse shit. Do we say working at McDonalds is a gateway job to becoming a manager?

NO! That sounds absolutely ridiculous if you use any other variables. We are conditioned to accept this is actually a valid theory, like the most-tested theory of all time: Evolution.

[Eshelmen]

cigerrettes or alcohol should be before marijuana

[RIH]

I disagree that pot is a gateway drug. The reason most kids smoke pot before they move onto other things is because it's easier to get to, and it's cheaper.

[Fabolous]

OMG, i can't believe this thread was even started. in basic terms you agree with all the mother fuckers that put down weed as a bad thing.

if you look at stats, Tobacco and Liquor are Gateway Drugs but yet not banned. that is why they are so damn easily to get ahold of. once you start drinking and/or Smoke Tobacco, you have a higher risk of doing coke, meths, Crack what ever.

[Kryzco]

My first drug was tobacco, then alcohol, then weed, cigarettes didn't make me want to to try anything, but alcohol did, but it wasn't until almost 7 years after getting drunk for the first time that I tried pot. I think the legal drugs are the gateway drugs, because alcohol just didn't cut it for me, I liked the feeling, but i hated the side effects, and when I drink the day after I get really depressed and want to drink more, when I first started tokin, I wanted to try new things, and different things, but not because I was searching for a better high, or to get more fucked up, pot just made me realize that not everything I'm told about drugs is true, and its taught me to be open minded, although I haven't tried anything besides dxm, I know that nothing I could take could give me the same feeling and relaxation that pot has given me. I used to be this huge anti pot person, and I lost a lot of friendships over it, but now I look back and want to slap myself. Pot has helped me in so many ways, with my insomnia, and it made me eat again. Alcohol could never do that for me.

and fabolous I agree with you, it boggles my mind that alcohol is still legal, but yet pot is still the demon seed

[beachguy in thongs]

"Gateway" was my cable company, when I was young. I wish that they promoted Pot.

[Reefer Rogue]

"Gateway" was my cable company, when I was young. I wish that they promoted Pot.

Are you always 'on' :dance:

[beachguy in thongs]

On this planet, yes.

[Reefer Rogue]

Here comes Dolly...

[psychopixi]

I don't believe marijuana is a gateway drug.

I tried alcohol, then tobacco then marijuana. When I was a lot younger I always believed that all drugs (including alcohol and tobacco) were bad, and I convinced myself I'd never try them.

Then I got a bit older, read up on the facts about them, and talked to my friends, and decided maybe they weren't as bad as school and the news would have me believe. I would still like to try shrooms and acid, but I've never even been tempted by cocaine or heroin.

I don't think marijuana can be called a gateway drug because it's not like I've gotten bored of weed and am looking for a new high. I've read up on acid and shrooms, and I think their effects sound like something I'd like to try - not to go one better than getting high, but just for the experience.

[Inferius]

First off marijuana isnt a drug, it's a plant that produces psychoactive glands that also serves a purpose of keeping insects off of the flowers. Why it gets us high? I dont know but I can tell you that me and almost everyone on this forum is a prime example of why marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. I will stick with marijuana till I die. I've been doin it since 13 and you dont see me going around asking for crack rocks and heroin and shit like that. I dont wanna be an addictive fuck, fuck up half my life, have to go thru detox and a fucking embarassing rehab program. So why would I go off and try something else? It has no bad effects on me and I DO realize other drugs are bad...for example there are quite a few celebs that died from other drugs, like ODB died from an overdose of cocaine and a perscription drug. Marijuana doesnt kill and it doesnt send your life downhill. Fuck off, get banned, thank you :).
Just lettin' you know if you wanted to edit, you said it wasn't a drug and then referred to it in the sentance "It has no bad effects on me and I do realize other drugs are bad"
You called it a drug. :p
heh. Ya'll are forgetting the real meaning of a gateway drug. Gateway Drug means the user of a drug will lose their interest in the drug becuase they aren't expiriencing the same "high" as the first couple of times. They will then proceed to try harder drugs to acheive the same state of euphoria/w/e.
However, if you were to say that marijauna LED to other drugs, in general, without gateway drug in the sentance, then yes, I'd have to agree with you on general. But I also beleive alcohol and caffeine do the same thing. Anything that alters your mindstate in a noticeable way will get the user thinking about other drugs. Curiosity. It's inevitable, if you get drunk, you're going to realize, I feel different, I wonder what other things feel like. I'm not saying this is going to DRIVE YOU to do harder or addictive drugs, merely that the psychonaut curiosity will open up your mind from all the nauseating and smothering government/w/e anti-drug propaganda that we're fed on television and in school.
I knew, even when I was little, that I would try drugs. Wanna know why? DREAMS. I loved my dreams, I loved the things I could feel and taste and expirience with an altered state of consciousness.
Is Dreaming a gateway drug? Does it lead to harder drug use?
NO. Curiosity did. :thumbsup:

[jamstigator]

Marijuana does have a few bad or ambiguous properties. Most of the effects though are ones that people deem good. The two primary good effects for me are: 1) it makes me laugh a lot, and laughter is VERY good for you; and 2) it makes me sleep better.

The only real unambiguously bad side effect that I experience is that it negatively affects my ability to properly access my learned vocabulary, especially when it comes to words that I don't use often. This effect is temporary though, and goes away when you quit for a month or so.

Pot's been damn near a life-saver for my woman. She has extreme difficulty getting to sleep and staying asleep. That may sound like a trivial problem if you haven't experienced it, but long term sleep deprivation totally destroys one's quality of life. That's why it's used as a mild form of torture when interrogating prisoners, because it just sucks balls. It's not at ALL a trivial problem. With pot she sleeps great, which affects everything: she's happier, more rested, gets more done, isn't a bitch to be around. Of course, there are a variety of prescription pills that knock you out too, and she's tried many, but in the end pot helps her just as much, with fewer side effects, and it's not addictive. (Some of her prescription meds are *quite* addictive.)

The theory that pot is a gateway drug has been thoroughly disproven. Saying that it's a gateway drug is just ignoring the evidence.

[Tray7]

Orangeman i don't mean to flame you, but how can you say that marijuana isn't a drug just because it's natural? It changes your perception on reality and to your senses!
Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's not bad for you. You can eat datura or a poisonous fungi and it WILL KILL YOU! They are natural.
Weed is not a gateway drug in my opinion, it's all about people's personalities and the way in which that individual thinks.
I honestly think weed is bad for you..but i get around those bad qualities by excercising, doing my school work, not smoking TOO much, and not letting weed become ALL of my life!
You guys that are saying it's completely harmless are nuts in my opinion. I don't think it's all that bad unless you get mentally impaired..but it's definitely NOT harmless.
I know i'm right..you guys can't just hide from the fact it can be bad for you!


I agree with you. I think that there are a lot of bad qualities to weed. For example... ever since weed I have become a different kind of person. I am pretty much lazy and like to just "hang out" with my friends and sit and get stoned. I used to be so much more active and have hobbies. I need to become a "productive stoner".

[dopesmoker]

marijuana is definetly not a gateway drug...it never made me want to do other drugs after i took it. I've smoking it for 2.5 years and the only other drug i've done is alcohol....and alcohol was the first thing that i got into, other then the stuff like caffeine and whatnot. I'm think i might do lsd sometime this summer but i done have to, and marijuana doesnt make me want to. If marijuana wasnt in existence all these other drugs still would be here and people would still be using them. its not marijuana that makes you do other drugs, thats like saying hugging someone makes you need to have sex with them. Its a proven fact that it isnt a gateway drug, and its unfortunate that governments still try to pass it off as one.

[NightProwler]

marijuana has steered me clear from the bad drugs. im not gonna do coke,crack, heroin, meth, or any stupid shit. just the good drugs for me.

[BuenoMota]

The whole "gateway" theory is a bunch of horse shit. Do we say working at McDonalds is a gateway job to becoming a manager?

NO! That sounds absolutely ridiculous if you use any other variables. We are conditioned to accept this is actually a valid theory, like the most-tested theory of all time: Evolution.

HAHAA, that made me laugh alot. thank you.

[Big Calhoun]

I think it's about ones own perception and willingness to...'go further'. I mean, if you smoke herb and are comfortable with the high, you may not have a desire to do or try anything else. Be it stories you've heard, people you've seen, or just lack of interest. On the other hand, if you smoke, enjoy the high, and wonder if there are other or 'better' highs you can achieve, then you might have a higher chance in branching out and trying other drugs.

[psymin]

every thing in moderation

[psymin]

weed, i used to love it untill i smoked to much, now it gives me real bad parra. might also be a mix of other drugs that i regular use(mdma,ket,lsd,2cb) like most people weed was the first. it just opens your mind. livng in certain comunities give u acces to differnt minds. there is allot of propoganda and hate out there, dont get caught up in it.

psy

[Nylo]

I don't believe it's a gateway drug at all. I was a lot like PsychoPixi: I used to believe heavily that marijuana was inherantly a gateway drug. I thought if I smoked the stuff I'd want a stronger, different high.

To this day I only enjoy marijuana. A few drinks are fine on occasion, and I smoke one ciggie probably once every 5 months. Like PsychoPixi, I may try shrooms one day, but only because I've gotten my hands on every piece of research I can get a hold of.

It's a personal choice of mine to keep it that way. I love Mary Jane =]