Marijuana as a Gateway Drug
Question: Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?
My best friend who is a cancer patient left Austin a few years ago but still comes home for the holidays. Her mom found, on a recent visit an ashtray full of marijuana roaches under her bed. I'm not too worried about marijuana, as it is a soft drug, but I'm concerned that it will lead to hard drugs, and my friend may become an addict. Is it true that marijuana leads to other drug use?
Answer:
Marijuana, also known as cannabis or weed, is the most commonly used -- and abused -- illicit drug. It is often thought of as a "soft drug," with proponents claiming that it is non-addictive and relatively harmless, particularly when compared with the much more available and socially acceptable drugs, alcohol and nicotine.
What is a "Gateway Drug?"
The gateway drug theory states that "soft drugs," such as marijuana, provide an apparently safe psychoactive experience that makes naive users more open to experimenting with other illicit drugs. Because most people who develop severe problems with drugs, such as cocaine, meth, and heroin, had early experiences with marijuana before trying these other drugs, and because marijuana use is correlated with use of other drugs, the argument goes that if they had not taken marijuana in the first place, they would not have been lured into a false sense of security around drug use and so would never have "progressed" to other, more harmful substances.
The Marijuana Legalization Debate
What are the arguments for legalizing marijuana?
Proponents of legalizing marijuana argue that doing so could be a source of tax revenue. Additionally, quality could be regulated by the government to prevent distribution of tainted substances . Marijuana dealers—many of whom engage in other crimes and cause problems in neighborhoods—would no longer have a source of income. The overall cost would decrease, which means that users would be less likely to steal to obtain enough money for their
My best friend who is a cancer patient left Austin a few years ago but still comes home for the holidays. Her mom found, on a recent visit an ashtray full of marijuana roaches under her bed. I'm not too worried about marijuana, as it is a soft drug, but I'm concerned that it will lead to hard drugs, and my friend may become an addict. Is it true that marijuana leads to other drug use?
Answer:
Marijuana, also known as cannabis or weed, is the most commonly used -- and abused -- illicit drug. It is often thought of as a "soft drug," with proponents claiming that it is non-addictive and relatively harmless, particularly when compared with the much more available and socially acceptable drugs, alcohol and nicotine.
What is a "Gateway Drug?"
The gateway drug theory states that "soft drugs," such as marijuana, provide an apparently safe psychoactive experience that makes naive users more open to experimenting with other illicit drugs. Because most people who develop severe problems with drugs, such as cocaine, meth, and heroin, had early experiences with marijuana before trying these other drugs, and because marijuana use is correlated with use of other drugs, the argument goes that if they had not taken marijuana in the first place, they would not have been lured into a false sense of security around drug use and so would never have "progressed" to other, more harmful substances.
The Marijuana Legalization Debate
What are the arguments for legalizing marijuana?
Proponents of legalizing marijuana argue that doing so could be a source of tax revenue. Additionally, quality could be regulated by the government to prevent distribution of tainted substances . Marijuana dealers—many of whom engage in other crimes and cause problems in neighborhoods—would no longer have a source of income. The overall cost would decrease, which means that users would be less likely to steal to obtain enough money for their