Look the crap yahoo is pushing...
 

On their main page right now:
Early Pot Smokers Become Addicts, U.S. Study Says

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid...se_and_ abuse


The main message is smoking weed lead to hard drug... :rasta

They call marijuana the gateway to hard drug use. I think that before a junky ever touched his/her posion they probably did smoke weed first. I also think the only reason weed leads to harder drugs is the fact that its illegal and puts users in that underground enviroment.

Yeah. How dare they report the news. Bastards. I hate it when people say stuff I don't like...

Slightly true...It takes self control. Moving from Weed to anything is usually an indication of trouble to come.

Stick with weed! Grow your own...and then you'll never get sucked into the seedy underworld of bikers and pornographers...whoa...I mean....um...

Yeah! It's a fact that weed causes amnesia and something else I just can't remember:rasta

Actually this is mostly related with the curiosity of some young people to try things and it's not directly related with marijuana. Obviously many try to mislead and give the impression that marijuana is a gateway to hard drugs which is invalid.

Talk to your children like you would talk to a friend and they'll understand. Don't talk them like parents, it won't help. Don't bullshit them trying to scare them etc, it won't help either. Their environment outside home builds an immune system "against" their parents. So obviously talking as friend counts more than talking as a parent.......jesus I sound like 60 y.old...... :helpme

absolutely

Marijuana is not a gateway drug.

Back it by facts or drop it.

I agree. That study makes sense. Its not like someone who has never done any drugs before, just decides one day to shoot some heroin or snort some cocaine.

Weed is good. Drugs are bad.

I think its all stat related. Like the chance of somebody who smokes weed is far more likely to use cocaine then someone who never got high.
I dont think that marijuana causes it, but the fact that its illegal and associates users with the black market.
If it was made legal it would most likely lose its "gateway" profile

Soul_Rebel what you say is sooooo true... I don't use any drugs...and booze is a drug...just legal... ( for over 15 years) I use to smoke week like a fucking freight train, poped pills, did acid...... this is a huge problem when they tell kids this about weed.... they try it...makes'm feel good...they feel great the next day... Well the old folks lied to us about weed.. Let's try some of that coke that they say is bad now... I've said this before on this board... I would much rather see a kid smoke weed than drink booze... shit am all most as old as you am 58... You old fucking goat.... :winkwink: :2 cents:

This is also a true statement.

When psychology first started, it was exactly these kinds of mistakes that made things difficult. Every time there's a positive correlation, people want to jump to the conclusion that there's a cause and an effect... and that's not always the case. For instance, you could find that the darker a person's skin (in the U.S.), the more likely that person is to be incarcerated for violent crimes. You have a positive correlation. So using the same kind of logic that these idiots who call marijuana a gateway drug are using, we could deduce that darker skinned people are inherently more prone to violence. But the truth of the matter is that poor people commit more violent crimes (black, white, or otherwise), and that there's a higher percentage of darker skinned people who are in poverty in the U.S. Also, the prejudice of the justice system has to be taken into account. It's not as simple as some simple-minded people might like to make it.

So the truth is just what was said before... usually people who plan to try harder drugs try marijuana first... after all, what's easiest to get? What's being smoked at every teenage party? OF COURSE they smoke pot first, but that doesn't mean it leads to those other drugs.

Of course, what do I know? I'm high.

jimmyf, i'm glad you agree, btw im 24 :winkwink:

Alchohol is far worse than weed. At least weed doesn't make you beat up on your wife, or girlfriend, or children. I may be wrong but I've never heard of someone high on weed getting behind the wheel and killing someone either.

If marijuana is a gateway drug then is beer a gateway to vodka then? Why doesnt that make the news? Dealing drugs is a business to make money, we all know a great way of making sure you stay rich is customer retention. Drug dealers stand to make some recurring cash from folks that are physically addicted to heroin. That dealer knows damn well that once he gets a 'client' on a drug that is physically addictive , he has a built in customer for a long time. Kids are going to be kids, they are going to try pot one time or another. By putting the pot in the hands of a drug dealer of course he is going to try and get people to use a physically addictive drug, he stands to make more money that way. Iam just amazed that some people can not see through the propaganda that has been forced on us for many years that smoking a plant that makes ya a bit hungry and pretty damn happy makes you a criminal. It is a gateway drug because our government chooses to let it be one.

Rory
:helpme

I'd much rather prefer being in a room full of potheads vs drunks. The pot people are alot more laid back and freindly, never seen too many "angry potheads" , cant say the same for drunks though... as far as driving goes, it seems like no matter what kind of situation pops up, squirrel crossing, light change... I get a cool 20 seconds to react to it when Im stoned...or so it seems!.. Everything is slow-mo......:thumbsup
-UglyOrange

this is not about pot vs alcohol.


It's about marijuana being called a 'gateway drug'

I'm sure a high percentage of pot smokers smoked tobacco before they tried marijuana.

I'm sure a high percentage of tobacco smokers drink alcohol from time to time as well. The two go hand in hand pretty well.

It may seem ridiculous, but the only reason marijuana gets the finger pointed at it, is because its also classified as illegal. But it wouldnt be illegal if it was not considered a 'gateway' drug.

Its a catch 22 the government has been playing on for a very very long time.

For the record.. I have the ocassional joint, measured in months, not weeks days or hours. I also don't consider the stuff to be harmful, all it is for me is a great way to temporarily lose some iq points. :thumbsup

Iam gonna disagree with the part about the reason it is illegal is because its considered a gateway drug. Although that is a great form of propaganda its not the reason why pot is illegal. Go Back way to 1937 what was happening? Company named Dupont had this cool plastic type stuff that could make them quite a bit of money. Problem being was that hemp was a better product and was already being promoted for the war effort, etc. Everyone knows that politicians are bought and guess who had more money.... Dupont. Great way to get rid of competition I may add, make the production of it a federal crime. Dont believe everything the american media spits at you man, Iam by no means a hippy or conspiracy theorist, just like to get a wider perspective than the american media is able to offer.

Rory
:helpme

beer is as much of a gateway drug to heroin as pot is. hell both are illegal to an under 21yr old..

it's silly statistic twisting.. it's like saying a hardcore caffeine cola drinker is going to have tried coke before jolt cola. big deal. coke is everywhere it's no big deal.. if you're curious about high caffeine colas you'll have tried coke first..

i wonder how much of the budget of the war against drugs is being wasted annually to prove this..

and the buying pot off a drug dealer exposes them to heroin is a fucking hoax too.... i don't know the way it is over there but here, a pot dealer is a pot dealer... a heroin dealer is a heroin dealer.. never the twain shall meet.. not saying you couln't ask your pot dealer to try and get you some ecstacy or acid.. but it's different.. your average pot dealer is a 20-something bumming around selling quarter ounces while playing a PS2 and on the dole.. or a surfer.. just your average joe.. a heroin/coke dealer is an entirely different beast... they are more professional than incidental dealers... the stakes are way higher they have to be.

I don't think it's a gateway... even tho I smoke weed for years and did alot of other stuff like mushrooms and acids, but I always had a limit inside wich was... nothing phisically addicting.

I'm a beleiver that any psychological dependance (weed,tobacco, coffee) can be controlled with some motivations or cash problems LOL.

so don'T touch crack, cocain or heroin and you'll be fine.

personally just stick to weed... rest is fun but fucks your brain bigtime after a few trips.

not true, my dealer plays X-Box ;)