Gateway Drugs
I’ve always thought the gateway drug theory was a ludicrous argument against drugs. All that time, all those studies, all that handwringing, just to prove that kids who do drugs are more likely to do drugs than kids that don’t.
Drug War Rant’s take on the gateway issue is succinct and more to the point:
Here’s what we know for sure regarding the gateway theory:
- Over 99% of those who never try marijuana will not become addicted to heroin.
- Over 99% of those who do try marijuana will not become addicted to heroin.
July 7th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
Not so sure that’s a valid note, particularly since the percentage of the population using heroin is well under 1% (to the point where we’re dealing with rounding errors), and the population who have tried marijuana is so significantly larger.
Can you honestly believe that there is a 0% higher probability of a pot user going on to use heroin? There should at least be some degree of difference, even if it’s so minor as to be meaningless.
July 8th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
No, there just plainly isnt a connection. You could probably smoke weed chronically your entire life and never come across heroin unless you were specifically looking for it. I’ve known a decent number of people who use marijuana, and heroin was never mentioned as something they had access to. I suspect that the distribution network is entirely separate, so it isnt like you would just see it on the shelves next to it and want to try it.
And secondly, it isnt like heroin is like marijuana only better- heroin is an entirely different type of drug that gives a completely different high and has completely different effects on the body. Someone who wanted something stronger than marijuana would probably just go seek out more expensive and potent strains of marijuana or use a different delivery mechanism.
The only gateway drug I could think of to heroin use would be morphine, which itself is a useful legal drug. In fact, many sick/injured people get hooked on morphine and then go on to use heroin because morphine is harder to get on the street and the high is similar but more intense with the heroin.
July 10th, 2006 at 9:23 am
It’s not meaningless; it’s just a classic case of correlation vs. causation.