Is weed really a gateway drug?

[EradiusLore]

well i smoke a lot of weed most of the time and i can say that even though i have tried a couple of other drugs once i have been able to say no many many times when offered again. the great thing about weed is the more you smoke it the more rational you become. its kind of weird to explain it without someone taking it but basically at first i think someone is more likely to jump to other drugs through it because it inebriates you in a similar way to alcohol but unlike alcohol over time you get used to the drug and then you pretty much act how you would normally except more focused on what your doing (which is great when working on a project or driving for example)

so in conclusion i think it depends how long you have been on the drug

 

[Astoria]

-snip-

I understand what you're getting at but you are saying that everyone who has ever done harder drugs has done so because it's illegal (saying in the most basic way possible of course). But that can't be true. There are dozens of reasons why people get into harder drugs so to say that this is the only reason just isn't true. Yes, the draw of it being illegal and the path that it leads down is one of the main ones but not the only one.

I'm not implying that; and if my message was unclear I apologize. I merely expressed the fact that something being illegal exposes a person to other illegal substances and activities. People who do hard drugs do them for many different reasons; escapism, depression, hell I know people who were forced from a young age. What I'm getting at is that none of them are gateway drugs as drugs themselves; none of them make a person want to go onto different substances. It is simply the fact that a person's surroundings affect the decisions they make. If a person is immersed in illegal activities they are more likely to be exposed to other illegal things; this isn't to say that they are determined to go onto them, nor that they will never do it for this reason alone. Simply put, I am stating that marijuana itself is in no way a gateway drug; sure people who smoke marijuana may go onto other drugs but it is not because marijuana is a gateway drug; it is because they personally make the decision to move onto the other drugs. However, being exposed to other drugs DOES generally play a factor in the decision making process (if they were never exposed to other drugs, what is the likelihood of them discovering other drugs without consciously seeking them out?)
I don't mean to say that illegality is the sole reason; I wish simply to imply that marijuana is in no way a gateway drug and the closest possible relationship between it and other drugs is that it is illegal and is sold on the same black market as other drugs.

Ahh sorry for the misunderstanding.

 

[Rinji]

With weed, yes, its I find the illegality of the substance to be a major reason for it being a gateway drug. In order to experiment with the seemingly innocuous marijuana plant, you must first get over your qualms of breaking the law for a substance and take the step to find people who would solicit, learning the way in which these purchases are conducted.
With these two hurdles already excused in the minds of the weed consumer, the only thing standing between them and more dangerous substances is the concern over the damage they can do to oneself.

I agree.

You have already broken the law by smoking one kind of a substance, why not try another one? Even if it could cause more harm?

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

As many people have said above, it's a gateway drug only because it is illegal.

Marijuana is the least harmful drug out there, I do more damage to my body on a night out drinking than I do on a night in stoned, they shouldn't lump them all in.

Thankfully I have a really cool dealer, he deals other stuff but he never tries to push it on you, he's happy to just sell weed.

 

[The Last Nomad]

Yeah it leads on to other things, mostly junk food.

Thats a quote (maybe not an exact quote) from Half Baked, a really good stoner film. I don't believe weed is a gateway drug, at least not to most. I would say a lot of people who do heavier drugs did start on weed but I would say there is as many people, if not more, who only ever smoked weed and never went any further, so to speak.

However, I do believe that the argument for it being a gateway drug has some merit, (this coming from someone who smokes a hella lotta weed) but only because it is illegal. Anyone who has smoked weed has already broken a major law (more so than underage drinking) and probably would be a lot more likely to break another only slightly more serious law to get their hands on a harder drug, and they already may have connections to dealers who can get these harder drugs (I know I do). If weed was legal, people may not be as likely to want to break a serious law to get some acid or heroin or whatever and they wouldn't have the contacts.
But of course there would be some people who want those other drugs so much that they probably don't care about the law at all and I doubt it was weed that made them have that state of mind.

 

[tokae]

It's a gateway to bad breath, lazy demeanor and bad short-term memory..
That's it, really..

People can say what they think, but the ones that move from cannabis to heavier drugs could just as well have gone on to the heavier drugs via medical use (that is, prescribed drugs, not cannabis) or whatever.
It's their addictive nature and not the pot that is to blame.

 

[SinisterGehe]

I don't think it is a gateway drug. It doesn't react with the parts of brains that would cause it. Weed also doesn't cause chemical addiction, tho it causes social and psychological addiction.

I still would like to keep weed illegal, doesn't matter is it gateway drug or not. - I like sober people.

 

[moretimethansense]

Everyone I know who's done harder drugs has started with weed. It had nothing to do with it being illegal, they just wanted to try harder and harder drugs.

Everyone I know who has done hard drugs did not start with weed. Your small sample source has no validation whatsoever. Studies show that BECAUSE it is illegal users have other illegal substances made aware to them and provided to them. If it was in a store and you went to buy it the owner wouldn't say 'wanna try some cocaine too?'
TL;DR it IS due to it being illegal; in a black market environment you are exposed to numerous substances. I have smoked for years and it is ONLY due to it being illegal that I have been introduced to other substances simply because they are also illegal. I do not partake in them, and have no desire to. I honestly don't want to start an argument; I am merely stating facts and speaking from personal experience having smoked it myself for years and doing MUCH research on the topic, mainly from professionals and medical sources.

I'd just like to point out that your TLR was longer than everything else you typed.

OT: No, I think that most of those that started with weed and went on to harder drugs would've tried harder drugs anyway.

 

[Astoria]

-snip-

I understand what you're getting at but you are saying that everyone who has ever done harder drugs has done so because it's illegal (saying in the most basic way possible of course). But that can't be true. There are dozens of reasons why people get into harder drugs so to say that this is the only reason just isn't true. Yes, the draw of it being illegal and the path that it leads down is one of the main ones but not the only one.

I'm not implying that; and if my message was unclear I apologize. I merely expressed the fact that something being illegal exposes a person to other illegal substances and activities. People who do hard drugs do them for many different reasons; escapism, depression, hell I know people who were forced from a young age. What I'm getting at is that none of them are gateway drugs as drugs themselves; none of them make a person want to go onto different substances. It is simply the fact that a person's surroundings affect the decisions they make. If a person is immersed in illegal activities they are more likely to be exposed to other illegal things; this isn't to say that they are determined to go onto them, nor that they will never do it for this reason alone. Simply put, I am stating that marijuana itself is in no way a gateway drug; sure people who smoke marijuana may go onto other drugs but it is not because marijuana is a gateway drug; it is because they personally make the decision to move onto the other drugs. However, being exposed to other drugs DOES generally play a factor in the decision making process (if they were never exposed to other drugs, what is the likelihood of them discovering other drugs without consciously seeking them out?)
I don't mean to say that illegality is the sole reason; I wish simply to imply that marijuana is in no way a gateway drug and the closest possible relationship between it and other drugs is that it is illegal and is sold on the same black market as other drugs.

Ahh sorry for the misunderstanding.

No problem; I enjoy having conversations with people who are willing to talk things out and I am always open to hear another person's point of view (as well as express my own)

That's what sites like this are for

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

I love guys like that; mine is the same way. He respects that you just want some weed and sends you on your merry way (or offers to smoke with you, which is always nice).

Yeah we often end up staying for an extra half hour to smoke our first one with him, we love his flat...

 

[Superior Mind]

Basically any drug, including legal ones like alcohol, nicotine or pharmaceuticals count as gateway drugs because they are drugs that people have easiest access to and statistically more likely to try before they move onto something harder - if they move onto something harder. Marijuana, despite being illegal, (in most places,) is pretty easilly avaliable and anyone who moves on to hard drugs is likely to first try marijuana.

I don't really find the label 'gateway drug' means all that much but yes, marijuana is a gateway drug.

 

[Tipsy Giant]

Smoke weed, but that's it! rarely drink alcohol anymore, it's bad for you.

 

[Astoria]

-snip-

I understand what you're getting at but you are saying that everyone who has ever done harder drugs has done so because it's illegal (saying in the most basic way possible of course). But that can't be true. There are dozens of reasons why people get into harder drugs so to say that this is the only reason just isn't true. Yes, the draw of it being illegal and the path that it leads down is one of the main ones but not the only one.

-snip-

Ahh sorry for the misunderstanding.

No problem; I enjoy having conversations with people who are willing to talk things out and I am always open to hear another person's point of view (as well as express my own)

That's what sites like this are for

True; that's why I love the escapist. All of the discussion, with minimal drama

So much better than real life

 

[similar.squirrel]

It depends on the person smoking it. I know people who use cannabis and nothing else, and I know others who have moved on to different substances as a result of being in an environment where they are readily available. The most outré substance I have tried is LSD, because I've had a long-standing interest in hallucinogens.
This does not mean that I will try amphetamines or opiates, because I know that they are bad news. Again, it's a matter of personality.

 

[mrF00bar]

It depends on the person.