Technically, marijuana was not my first drug. Tobacco was...been chewing tobacco since I was about 15...'dippin' actually....horrible habbit.

I've always felt that marijuana as a gateway drug is dependent on the user and what the user desires. Before I smoked herb, I had done research as to what it was, how it made you feel, negative/positive effects, etc. So I made an educated decision to try it. The 'high' was comfortable and enjoyable and I made a conscious decision that I didn't need anything more. Now, I have tried acid and mescaline, but those were for completely different motivations. Thus is the extent of my drug use. I smoke herb to relax and herb handles that function more than sufficiently, so I need nothing else.

On the other hand, I've had friends that smoked marijuana to get a 'window' on what a high felt like. THey liked it and decided they wanted something stronger so they went on to speed, cocoa, heroin, and crack. So with most of these people I knew, the motivation was to achieve the 'ultimate' high and get to the next level.

Then I've also encountered people where drugs, in general, are used as an escape rather than a form of relaxiation. And with these folks, the motivations were to basically cope with their own internal pain and forget. Some of them that I still talk to are straight weed/alcohol heads. Unfortunately, a few went off the deep end and OD'd on various drugs or did something while hopped up on drugs.

So in the end, I guess it comes down to your motivation and curiosity. With that, I would also say that it would be unfair to label marijuana as a gateway drug. It always comes down to what you want out of it.
Big Calhoun Reviewed by Big Calhoun on . Gateway drug Weed was a gateway drug for me to the inevitable shrooms, LSD, speed ect. but i wouldn't say that i would never have experienced or experimented with other drugs without weed. I am kind of split over whether or not it is a gateway drug because while i have seen some people smoke weed and try nothing else, i have seen several friends get in deep only a year after they first smoked. Gateway drug or not a gateway drug? why? Rating: 5