What is considered a gateway drug?

Answer 1

For the reason so as to it is a treatment one smolders external to the opening.

Answer 2

Yes.

Marijuana is seen by many to be a "harmless" drug because it has few apparent lasting effects.

By definition, a gateway drug is a harmful substance that will lead to the use and probable abuse of other harmful substances.

Therefore, any drug, including marijuana, can be seen as a gateway drug.

Your best bet: Stay away from the gate and you wont have to worry about what all it can lead to.

Answer 3

No. There is no such thing as a gateway drug. People say that marijuana is a gateway drug, because the vast majority of people who are addicted to hard drugs (like heroin, cocaine, or speed) begin their drug use with marijuana. However, this does not take into account that countless people begin their drug use with marijuana, but never use, or become addicted to, hard drugs.

Have you ever heard the saying, "All poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles?" In other words, yes, most drug addicts begin their drug use with marijuana, but that doesn't mean that everyone who uses marijuana will become a drug addict. Saying that everyone who uses marijuana will become a drug addict is like saying all dogs are poodles.

The truth is that marijuana is the least harmful drug you can use. It is virtually impossible to overdose on it -- the only marijuana death I have ever heard of was a five year-old girl who died after eating a pound (yes, a pound) of marijuana that her mother had baked into some brownies. It is virtually impossible to die from smoking or ingesting marijuana, not counting lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases.

Because it is the least harmful drug you can use, and because it is the most commonly used drug (besides alcohol), it is usually the first drug people try when they begin experimenting with drugs. Some of them go on to be drug addicts, but the majority don't. The majority just stick to marijuana, and never try anything else (or, try harder drugs, but don't get addicted to them).

Additionally, it is very hard for a non-drug user to find out where to buy hard drugs like heroin, cocaine, or speed. You have to know people, in order to be given the number of a drug dealer. So, a non-drug user will have a very hard time beginning his drug use with, say, heroin, because he won't be able to find a dealer who sells it. But since so many people smoke weed, it's relatively easy to get in touch with people who smoke it, and who know where to buy it. And once you've started hanging around people who smoke pot, eventually you're going to meet someone who knows where to get harder drugs. No one is going to give you the number of a heroin dealer, unless they trust you, and believe you're not a police officer. And no one is going to trust you, and believe you're not a police officer, unless you smoke marijuana and hang out with other people who smoke it.

For example, let's say that 100 teenagers tried marijuana for the first time today. In five years, 10 of them (10%) will be heroin, cocaine, or speed addicts. The other 90 (90%) continue to smoke pot (or don't), but never become addicted to hard drugs. If you look only at the 10 who became drug addicts, you might say, "Hey, look, all these drug addicts began their drug use with marijuana. That must mean that marijuana use leads to heroin/cocaine/speed addiction!" No, it doesn't. Out of those 100 teenagers, 90 of them did not become drug addicts just because they used marijuana.

Therefore, the theory of "gateway" drugs is completely, absolutely, 100% false.

Answer

According to the gateway drug theory, yes. However, this will drastically vary depending upon the user's personality and actions.

For the user that says "There is no such thing as a gateway drug." that can be debated (and why the theory exists). If we looked at mere ultimatums, as in everyone whom ever smoked marijuana must go on to harder drugs, then of course there is no such theory, but we don't live in a world of ultimatums. The reality is that using lower-level drugs can improve the odds that one moves unto harder drugs, which is precisely what the theory states. Does this mean that everyone whom uses more common drugs will go onto harder narcotics? No, or course not, but it does make them a more at-risk group than one whom does not use any drugs. The gateway drug theory is often used as a scare tactic, but that doesn't mean it is completely, absolutely, 100% false. To further complicate and muddy the arguments, many other aspects can also be argued, such as performing a criminal act (such as using marijuana in most cases, or underage drinking), makes one more at risk to perform additional criminal acts, moving unto harder drugs; in one example provided by the user above, "it is very hard for a non-drug user to find out where to buy hard drugs", and since the gateway drug theory is not limited to merely biological associations, also factors into the gateway drug theory.

Answer

Just because a theory exists, doesn't mean it has validity. There are plenty of people out there who are still arguing that evolution is a myth. The fact that there are a lot of them does not make their argument any less ridiculous.

"The reality is that using lower-level drugs can improve the odds that one moves on to harder drugs." No, that is not reality. That is merely your perception of reality. It is an assumption that is based on incomplete, insufficient evidence. You are mistaking a CORRELATION for a CAUSE-AND-EFFECT. It is a classic statistical fallacy.

In other words, if 90% of drug addicts chewed gum before becoming drug addicts, would you conclude that gum is a gateway drug? And if 90% of drug addicts have seen the movie Forrest Gump, would you conclude that Forrest Gump is a gateway drug? And if 90% of drug addicts sleep at night, would you conclude that sleeping at night leads to drug addiction? Of course not.

That is exactly what I was talking about when I said that "all poodles are dogs, but not all dogs are poodles." In other words, it is true that most people who use harder drugs have used marijuana in the past. But it is NOT true that most people who use marijuana end up using harder drugs.

The fact that you have to get to know drug users, before you can get ahold of harder drugs, does not fit into the gateway drug theory. The gateway drug theory argues that using less harmful drugs makes people think that no drug can harm them. The gateway drug theory argues that using less harmful drugs lowers your inhibitions against using harder drugs. It has nothing to do with the availability of drugs.

You are equating easier access to hard drugs with having a greater chance of using hard drugs, and they are NOT the same thing.

Getting to know a lot of drug users makes it easier to meet people who know how to get harder drugs. It does not make harder drugs seem less harmful. And it certainly does not break down your free will, so that you cannot make intelligent decisions about which drugs to use.

Just because you may have an easier time getting heroin when you know lots and lots of marijuana users, does not mean you have a greater chance of using heroin.

This is the other big problem with the gateway drug theory. It completely ignores the fact that human beings are born with a thing called "free will." How, exactly, does easier access to harder drugs MAKE a person use harder drugs? It doesn't. It's a matter of free will. A sensible person who has self-respect will not touch heroin, even if someone waves it in front of their face and screams, "Do it! You'll never regret it, I swear!"

And a person who is not sensible, and does nothave self-respect, will end up harming themselves, regardless of whether or not they have access to heroin. If a person wants to get messed up and forget about their life, and they can't get heroin...well, then they will become an alcoholic instead! Not being able to get heroin doesn't prevent someone from becoming addicted to legal drugs.

Drug addictions are not caused by using less harmful drugs. The consensus among addiction specialists today is that there are two main factors to drug addiction: biological and psychological. Studies have shown that 75% of alcoholics or addicts have at least one blood relative who is an alcoholic or addict. That is the biological factor in drug addiction.

Psychological trauma, especially in childhood, is the other factor. A person might drink/do drugs because their mother and father always told them they were worthless, stupid, and incapable. Or maybe they were severely, incessantly bullied in school. Or it could be something much worse, such as rape or incest.

Or, some people drink/do drugs because they have psychiatric problems, and are self-medicating to feel better. This is EXTREMELY common among people with clinical depression and Bipolar disorder, especially. They feel bad, and they don't know why, so they start using alcohol or drugs to feel better.

In other words, the main reason people become drug addicts is because they are unhappy. It's really that simple. Drugs make you feel instantly better. Although the biological factor may increase your susceptibility, the main thing that makes people drug addicts is feelings of unhappiness and lack of self-worth.

I'm sorry, but I fail to see how smoking pot fits into all of this. I mean, even the first link, which YOU provided, says quite clearly, "...these histories and research do not indicate a causal relationship between the early uses and the later uses and, therefore, do not confirm the gateway theory."

The bottom line is that there is no drug on earth that magically makes you crave harder drugs. As the fourth link says, "That is a belief in witchcraft. Not science."

Please have a look at the Related Question below, "What is a gateway drug?" as well as the Related Links.

Answer 4

Yes, as it will lower inhibitions and people will try other things while on it. Also, addicts that are not addicted to alcohol but another drug report that most aoften drinking alcohol will bring them back to their original drug of choice.

Answer 5

No marijuana is the gateway drug opiates are harmful and addicting they are what the gateway drug supposedly leads to.

Answer 6

gateway drugs inclued weed alcohol tabbaco nd perscription drug abbuse

Answer 7

Yes. It is one of the top most dangerous gateway drugs because it is legal and most people can easily get theirs hands on it. Other primary gateway drugs include tobacco and marijuana.

Answer 8

alcohol used as a gateway drug