National Institute of Justice: Is Cannabis a Gateway Drug?
COMMITMENT TO UNBIASED RESEARCH: “This report was conducted by the Federal Research Division (FRD) within the Library of Congress.”
Marijuana Is Not, Repeat Not, A Gateway Drug: Newsweek – 4/25/15
Support specia”When analyzing what acts as a “gateway” to hard drug use, there are a number of factors at play. None involve marijuana.l exhibitions.
- Poverty and poor social environment is a gateway to drugs, according to much research.
- Association with people who use hard drugs is a better predictor of harder drug use.
- When analyzinn mental illnesses, such as antisocial personality and bipolar disorder, are found to predispose some people to use drugs.
- Other research notes that criminalization and prohibition are real gateways to harder drugs.”
Prevalence of Cannabis Use in Youths After Legalization
Washington’s Healthy Youth Survey’s (HYS) data suggest that cannabis use among youths declined after legalization among 8th and 10th graders. The main difference is among 10th graders: the Monitoring The Future survey suggests a statistically significant increase while HYS suggests a decrease.
Molecular Mechanism for a Gateway Drug: Epigenetic Changes Initiated by Nicotine Prime Gene Expression by Cocaine: Science Translational Medicine – 2011 November 2
“In human populations, cigarettes and alcohol generally serve as gateway drugs, which people use first before progressing to marijuana, cocaine or other illicit substances.”
“If our findings in mice apply to humans, a decrease in smoking rates in young people could also lead to a decrease in cocaine addiction.”
What America’s Users Spend on Illegal Drugs: 2000-2010, RAND Corporation
“From 2006 to 2010, the amount of marijuana consumed in the United States likely increased more than 30 percent, while the amount of cocaine consumed in the United States decreased by approximately 50 percent. These figures are consistent with supply-side indicators, such as seizures and production estimates. Methamphetamine consumption rose sharply from 2000 through the middle of the decade, and this was followed by a large decline through 2008. Heroin consumption remained fairly stable throughout the decade, although there is some evidence of an increase in the later years. For all of the drugs, total consumption and expenditures are driven by the minority of users who consume on 21 or more days each month.”