Is Marijuana the gateway drug as they claim?

[swampdank]

Pussy was my gateway drug. I started smoking after my first lay. The chick rolled over and said "WOW! Now I need a ciggy" I thought that was just what I needed too so I smoked one, not far after that I smoked a joint and loved it. But as far as it leading to other drugs, I never grouped pot together with others. Matter of fact most of the times that I tried a new drug, I had been drinking.

Alcohol is definitely more of a gatelway drug than pot. You lose you inhibitions while intoxicated and will do things you normally would not do.

 

[Frozenguy]

Alright guys, from reading posts after post after post, I think we can all agree to some extent that a majority of us on here have done harsher things than just smoke MJ. We’ve had great threads about music and musicians who’ve created the greatest music ever on drugs, we’ve had the craziest and in some cases life-changing experiences while on drugs, (and I’m not creating this as a druggy thread, please don't get me wrong), I just want to know, was Marijuana the influence?

Did you have a group of friends that smoked weed and then you started smoking weed? After you smoked, and you saw a group of friends that were doing Cocaine perhaps (just using an example) and figured since MJ wasn’t that bad, maybe Coke isn’t either? Was the influence of any drug you tried stemming from the fact that you smoke weed and figured the other drugs might not be as bad as they claim?

I know there is a lot of B.S that comes out of the mouth of the media when it portrays “Marijuana” as a drug. But seriously. Could they be right on this one? Is marijuana really a gateway drug?

And if Marijuana was legalized everywhere, like tobacco, would we even try another drug? I don’t think I’ve ever heard “Cigarettes are the gateway Drug”. Just something to think about.

Is it so?

No.

Simply no.

It's the person themselves that decides to try new drugs.
One who is prone to try new drugs may be more comfortable with the thought of trying something new after using marijuana, but its not the plants fault, its the human's decision to take that drug.

If there was no marijuana, that same person would have eventually taken those drugs, if not immediately.

Self responsibility FTW

 

[Cookie monster]

The gateway drug thing has always bugged the hell out of me.
Without doubt the phrase was invented by the anti-pot scare mongers and spoon fed to the gullible.

Most of us have dabbled in drugs either perscription or illegal when we were teenagers and most of us ended up choosing a harmless plant like marijuana as our release.

My aunt blames herb for her sons chronic heroin habit that has destroyed his life, which is funny considering he's the only one of my 20 or so cousins who have tryed or smoke weed regularly who has a serious hard drugs addiction.

The teenage years are the real gateway to drugs, puberty kicks in and the body releases a hormone that makes kids start to think for themselves and want to do all the things they were told not to do.

If weed is a gateway drug it's because kids try it and pretty quickly realise that everything they were ever thought at home or in school about it is a lie.
Is it any wonder they get courious about other drugs?

 

[exploziv]

I quit using tobacco and rarely even drink a beer anymore, all while toking up like a madman.

If you want to quit smoking cigarettes, just roll a fattie every time you crave a ciggie. The pot smoke satisfies the smoky cravings.

Cannabis can be used to quit drinking.. smoking.. and it can make you happier and healthier.

Yes, it is a gateway to a better life.

Well said! I agree 100%!

 

[Blckbrd]

"If weed is a gateway drug it's because kids try it and pretty quickly realise that everything they were ever thought at home or in school about it is a lie."

Wholeheartedly agree. It's the gateway to realizing that "authority" comes up with rules to save us from the boogeymonster. It is the gateway to distrusting authority, its credibility and its motives. "If they say something so good is so bad, what else are they screwing with me about and why?"

People who try pot for the first time were gonna try something that they hoped would make them feel different in a better way anyway. Better that they found weed instead of oxy, percs, or dope!

 

[Mala Tempora]

Here's how I got smoking: a friend of mine bought some weed from a friend of his and offered to smoke a joint with me. I agreed and went and smoked a joint with him. Then I smoked some more and more and then started buying weed. Since then I've barely touched a drop of alcohol, and no other drugs at all (aside from caffeine).

That friend started getting his weed from shadier and shadier sources. Eventually he had to get his weed from screwed up drug dealers that also sold pills, coke, and whatever else they could profit from. I also started buying from these guys. Eventually the friend that introduced me to weed started hanging around with these guys and started experimenting with other drugs. I also hung around with a few of them a few times and one guy tried getting me to try a line of cocaine. I told him to fuck off. My friend, however, accepted the other guy's offers of drugs and is now completely screwed up, jobless, homeless, and addicted to prescription drugs and mephedrone. I'm in college studying for a computer science degree.

The moral of this story is simple: weed is only a gateway drug when it's associated with other drugs. If it were legal there wouldn't be such associations and you wouldn't hear stories like the one I just told.

 

[gogoplata420]

i lol'd... hey man you want some cocaine?

FUCK OFF!!!!!!!!

...no thank you probably wouldve worked to bro

 

[rambone]

not a gateway drug in so much as it opened me up to the idea that since people had lied to me about cannabis that maybe they lied about other drugs as well

 

[zomg1]

No it's not a gateway drug in the sense that once someone smokes weed they are going to want to do other drugs.
For me personally due to marijuana's extreme availability in my area it was the first drug I tried, and yes it absolutely made me more open and willing to try new drugs. It wasn't a gateway though, as a kid I always wanted to try drugs that altered your perception. I just found it fascinating how ingesting a chemical can completely alter your emotions/feelings for a short duration.
I know ton's of people who have smoked weed and not touched anything else, and I know others who are down for anything anytime. I think your predisposition to do drugs has everything to do with your personality and nothing to do with the first drug you tried (which is more often than not pot).

 

[johnipedestran]

if you are gonna go down this road of thought, then alcohol is the gateway drug......

I guess if you had to list drugs in the order I did them (starting in the 70's)

1. alcohol
2. pills
3. pot
4. mushrooms/acid

I still drink on occasion, and obviously still smoke pot.

peace
jip

 

[toastfighter2]

My take on it is that it is only a gate way drug because they(the gov) made it that way. After I tried pot for the first time(a giant roach my friend swiped from his mom), I was like "holy shit, this is awesome, where can we get more?" Soon after that, the idea kicked in that if this is so great, what about everything else they said was bad, which in turn, lead me to trying a ton of other drugs(and believe me, I have sampled nearly every drug that you don't need a needle to do). Thankfully, the only ones that stuck are pot and alcohol, but just the fact that they had grouped all drugs into one bunch, and labeled them as terrible is what inspired me.

 

[Mala Tempora]

...no thank you probably wouldve worked to bro

I tried that initially, but he started with all of this "Go on man, it's just a line. Give it a go."

He was a cocaine dealer too, and I think he just wanted an extra customer.

 

[BurmeseDragon]

It's a stupid theory, for some cannabis is as powerful as they are interested in...but for most it opens a door to natures ethogen vault which is extensive with semi-synthetics these days.

I experienced tobacco before beer, then LSD since cannabis didn't do anything for first several times. Mostly I found a load of plants and some parts of nature turned into more powerful substances. Heroin isn't a big deal as much as people use it, mostly shooting it.

The gate way theory is a dumb idea, it just means that pot isn't a big deal to them...and they know nothing about other plants other than some DEA report that gets a lot more drama than the actual user experience...which always motivates!

There are AWESOME plants and naturally derived substances, that I don't confuse with raw natural form but from that (refined and processed)...that are vastly amazing! Cannabis is just a very common substance among minds open to civil rebellion.

I think actually pharmaceuticals are the gate way drugs because your bull shit only works for kids!

I don't have problems with plant extracts or modifications of molecules from nature, but it seems that people do. I don't have a problem with a plant extract such as coca alkaloids, but some people seriously do!

I think it's how society bends it and are mostly bad people that don't realize that thought is more important than substance..even cannabis users get that rap, people find it's a ticket to live anyway they want...which is really bad for some people, not treating others respectfully.

For some, when the party is on it is on and there is no limit and that is just not me..and that gets confused with any party favor/substance/toy!

 

[HappyDog]

Candy cigarettes for me. Thought I'd never quit! In fact I think I'm craving one right now.

 

[OjoRojo420]

Alcohol is by far the gate-way drug for:

Other harder drugs

lest we forget...

And ugly chicks

Be vigilant!

 

[HappyDog]

Absolutely correct. I've done more effed up stuff drinking than on any other drug.
Keeps the body from runnin good for a few days after as well.

 

[chak-ra]

Dude,

The principle of gateway drug is once you've TRIED MJ, you are bound to shoot up sooner or later.
All my friends are stoners. But none of them ever came in contact with harddrugs (exept for booze).

It's like saying to a baby:"Don't drink that milk, son, 'cus before ya know it, you'll be downing bottles of Jack! Instead use water." This is just craaaaazy-talk man.
Gateway is BULL! Just a consequence of the blackmarket dealers who don't care what you buy, as long as you buy something!

Gateway doesn't exist. Addiction is something else... and replacing one drug with the other is not gateway, it's just an addict switchin' over!

So to answer the question: NO!

 

[B.C.]

I know a lot of folks that won't do coke, until they go to the bar an start drinking. Then they don't stop til the next day, when they're broke! Seems to be more of a slippery slope than a "Gateway" thing though. lol

I don't know one person that has ever said, well, I smoked pot and it was ok, so now I'm gonna start shootin up and smokin crack. I think we all know it's jus government propaganda. People are gonna do other drugs whether they've smoked bud er not. Curiousity is human nature... lol

Yall enjoy the Holidays! BC

 

[Pythagllio]

Pretend for a moment that cannabis never existed. Absolutely no trace, so no memory possible.

Now tell me with a straight face that people wouldn't get high on the rest of the shit.

I rest my case.

 

[aboleth]

I think that Cannabis use shows willingness to break the law to get high, so under that assertion, yes, it can be a gateway drug. But honestly, if it was legal, we could throw that out the window.

Someone who is willing to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or smoke cannabis will certainly be more disposed to trying other drugs. Not all of them will, but cannabis isn't the cause, it is just sometimes a symptom of a bigger problem that includes other drugs.

All things in moderation i say. I did all sorts of different drugs as a young adult, and while I liked many, I had the sense to know that they just weren't sustainable in the long run. Now I just smoke cannabis, and have a little bourbon about once a month.

To those who care about the prevention of hard drugs:

I think it is important to educate people about the effects and side effects of drugs so they can make educated choices. Once you lie to them about Cannabis, they just might not believe the legitimate messages that you send them as well, like Meth will fucking kill you, and make you ugly as sin as it's doing it. Talk about how pain killer addiction can be the bottom of human depravity. But don't try to make cannabis look bad because harder and actually harmful drugs exist. Pot is just a fun thing to smoke, and it's not for everyone, but it certainly won't ruin your life or lead to other things, people make those decisions as individuals.