Marijuanna Is A Gateway Drug

[Reason42]

Oh, the power of shaping an argument...

It's a "gateway" drug!
Legalization would "save money"
Legalization would make a nation of "high zombies" hurting themselves and others...
In many cases of severe illness, it relieves pain, and aids in nutrition...



Isn't the issue really the balance of "personal and societal freedoms" versus "personal and societal responsibilities"... ?

Regrettably, both political parties are corrupted by not having consistent stances on this balance. They both push "hot-button" topics, to one side or the other, to appeal to most voters who just don't have time to think (or can't) through all the issues...

If you want to legalize marijuana, legalize most or all drugs... make prescription drugs "over the counter"...

If you want to take the freedom, take the responsibility....

...and don't expect society to clean up the mess (pay your medical bills, or bills of others from short term accidents, or long term health issues), if you use marijuana, alcohol, caffeine, codeine, heroin, vicodin, tobacco, sun-tanning, sugar, fat, meth, carbohydrates, drive dangerously, skydive, surf, run fast down the street with a pair of scissors...

...TAKE the responsibility.



But... I wonder if most now are coming to understand, many who are yelling for "legalization", just want to get "high" and still have the "government" (the rest of us) there to pay the likely costs to society...











Drug Alcohol Rev. 2005 Jan;24(1):39-48.
Is cannabis a gateway drug? Testing hypotheses about the relationship between cannabis use and the use of other illicit drugs.

Hall WD, Lynskey M.
Office of Public Policy and Ethics, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Qld, 4072, Australia. w.hall@imb.uq.edu.au
Abstract

We outline and evaluate competing explanations of three relationships that have consistently been found between cannabis use and the use of other illicit drugs, namely, (1) that cannabis use typically precedes the use of other illicit drugs; and that (2) the earlier cannabis is used, and (3) the more regularly it is used, the more likely a young person is to use other illicit drugs. We consider three major competing explanations of these patterns: (1) that the relationship is due to the fact that there is a shared illicit market for cannabis and other drugs which makes it more likely that other illicit drugs will be used if cannabis is used; (2) that they are explained by the characteristics of those who use cannabis; and (3) that they reflect a causal relationship in which the pharmacological effects of cannabis on brain function increase the likelihood of using other illicit drugs. These explanations are evaluated in the light of evidence from longitudinal epidemiological studies, simulation studies, discordant twin studies and animal studies. The available evidence indicates that the association reflects in part but is not wholly explained by: (1) the selective recruitment to heavy cannabis use of persons with pre-existing traits (that may be in part genetic) that predispose to the use of a variety of different drugs; (2) the affiliation of cannabis users with drug using peers in settings that provide more opportunities to use other illicit drugs at an earlier age; (3) supported by socialisation into an illicit drug subculture with favourable attitudes towards the use of other illicit drugs. Animal studies have raised the possibility that regular cannabis use may have pharmacological effects on brain function that increase the likelihood of using other drugs. We conclude with suggestions for the type of research studies that will enable a decision to be made about the relative contributions that social context, individual characteristics, and drug effects make to the relationship between cannabis use and the use of other drugs.


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Addiction. 2000 Apr;95(4):505-20.
Does cannabis use encourage other forms of illicit drug use?

Fergusson DM, Horwood LJ.
Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand.
Comment in:

• Addiction. 2001 Mar;96(3):511-5.

Abstract

AIMS: To examine the relationship between cannabis use in adolescence and the onset of other illicit drug use.
METHOD: Data were gathered over the course of a 21-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort of 1265 New Zealand children. Measures analysed included: (a) frequency of cannabis use and other illicit drugs from 15-21; (b) family, social, educational and behavioural backgrounds of cohort members prior to 15; and (c) adolescent life-style variables.
FINDINGS: (i) By 21, nearly 70% of cohort members and used cannabis and 26% had used other illicit drugs. (ii) In all but three cases, the use of cannabis had preceded the use of illicit drugs. (iii) Those using cannabis on more than 50 occasions a year had hazards of other illicit drug use that were 140 times higher than non-users. (iv) After adjustment for covariate factors, including childhood factors, family factors and adolescent life-style factors, cannabis use remained strongly related to the onset of other forms of illicit drug use. Those using cannabis on more than 50 occasions per year had hazards of other illicit drug use that were 59.2 times higher than non-users.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings support the view that cannabis may act as a gateway drug that encourages other forms of illicit drug use. None the less, the possibility remains that the association is non-causal and reflects factors that were not adequately controlled in the analysis.