{"id":37290,"date":"2024-11-19T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T13:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.veriheal.com\/blog\/?p=37290"},"modified":"2024-11-18T11:40:45","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T16:40:45","slug":"is-marijuana-a-gateway-drug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.veriheal.com\/blog\/is-marijuana-a-gateway-drug\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The impact of cannabis on people and society has long been disputed, with researchers and politicians alike continuing to debate the substance and its safety. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.veriheal.com\/blog\/a-look-back-at-anti-cannabis-propaganda-through-time\/\">Propaganda in past decades<\/a> has promoted cannabis as a gateway drug, saying that it can lead to harder drug use and addiction in the future. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Donald Trump\u2019s former Attorney General William Barr, it is. In September, Barr published an op-ed for Fox News in which he <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stated: \u201cNot all marijuana users go on to use harder drugs, but the vast majority of people who use harder drugs started with marijuana.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barr voiced these opinions about cannabis as a means of slamming the Biden administration\u2019s proposal to reschedule marijuana federally, moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substance Act (CSA).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But is marijuana <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">actually<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> a \u201cgateway drug?&#8221; Barr is far from the first person to make this claim. In 1938, his predecessor Henry Anslinger <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tni.org\/en\/publication\/the-rise-and-decline-of-cannabis-prohibition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">first publicly promoted the idea<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that cannabis use leads to heroin addiction, as well as dementia and crime, in order to stricten police enforcement and target minorities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To find out more, we\u2019ll look into the current science and see what the experts say.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Is Weed a Gateway Drug? Some Say Yes<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/cannabis\/risk-factors\/using-other-drugs.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explained by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, researchers do not agree on whether or not cannabis is a gateway drug, given limited evidence. Some researchers, however, have interpreted data on cannabis usage to mean that it is indeed a gateway drug, particularly if they start <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC8655458\/#:~:text=The%20onset%20of,%2C43.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cannabis before age 16<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or have <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/39151799\/#:~:text=Results%3A%20Of,are%20also%20needed.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cannabis use disorder<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/pubs\/research_briefs\/RB6010.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RAND explains<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for example, that three pieces of information have been used to support this notion:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, m<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">arijuana users are more likely than nonusers to move on to hard drug use\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Second, nearly all who have used both marijuana and hard drugs started using marijuana before the hard drugs\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And third, that a greater frequency of marijuana use corresponds with a greater likelihood of using hard drugs later\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Others Say No<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other evidence, however, points to the opposite conclusion. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/nida.nih.gov\/research-topics\/cannabis#gateway-drug\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">National Institute on Drug Abuse states<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that \u201cmost people who use or have used cannabis do not go on to use other substances later in life.\u201d This can be interpreted as evidence refuting the idea that cannabis is a gateway drug.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nber.org\/papers\/w29038\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2021 study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> also examined this question through the lens of recreational marijuana laws (RMLs). The studies, \u201cshow that RMLs increase adult marijuana use and reduce drug-related arrests over an average post-legalization window of three to four years. There is little evidence to suggest that RML-induced increases in marijuana consumption encourage the use of harder substances or violent criminal activity, and some evidence that RMLs may aid in reducing opioid-related mortality.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, the increase in marijuana usage was not found to increase the use of harder drugs. In fact, it\u2019s just the opposite, which stands in contrast to the notion of cannabis as a gateway drug.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, many drug users initiate their drug experiences with drugs other than cannabis. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/humjsocrel.35.5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A 2013 study of marijuana users<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found that 80% of participants began with alcohol or tobacco, and 33% began with another drug prior to marijuana.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Correlation Vs. Causation<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, much of the debate comes down to correlation or causation. While cannabis is associated with harder drugs in some respects, there are many possible explanations for this association, and it does not inherently mean that cannabis usage causes harder drug usage. It\u2019s more likely that people find themselves in difficult socioeconomic circumstances, which leads them to try coping with one or more drugs, including cannabis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/abs\/10.1080\/09595230500126698\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2009 study<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> outlines some alternative reasons for these positive associations. These include:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The selective recruitment to heavy cannabis use of persons with pre-existing traits (that may be in part genetic) that predispose to the use of a variety of different drugs;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The affiliation of cannabis users with drug-using peers in settings that provide more opportunities to use other illicit drugs at an earlier age;\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Supported by socialization into an illicit drug subculture with favorable attitudes towards the use of other illicit drugs.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/pubs\/research_briefs\/RB6010.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RAND explains<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, \u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Those who use drugs may have an underlying propensity to do so that is not specific to any one drug. There is some support for such a \u2019common-factor\u2019 model in studies of genetic, familial, and environmental factors influencing drug use.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, people who use both cannabis and harder drugs may be influenced by certain factors including genetics and socialization that pertain to drugs overall, and it doesn\u2019t mean that cannabis is causing or acting as a \u201cgateway\u201d to these other drugs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Final Thoughts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, is cannabis a gateway drug? While there is no inarguable yes or no answer, there has been no definitive evidence found supporting the notion that it is. There\u2019s a web of complex societal and economic factors that drive polysubstance use.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Many cannabis users never go on to use harder drugs, even though some users do. Ultimately, all drug usage should be done safely and with an awareness of one\u2019s limits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The impact of cannabis on people and society has long been disputed, with researchers and politicians alike continuing to debate the substance and its safety. Propaganda in past decades has promoted cannabis as a gateway drug, saying that it can lead to harder drug use and addiction in the future. According to Donald Trump\u2019s former&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":37295,"parent":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[29,12122,1876,2417,17323,17325,17324,17326,16671],"class_list":["post-37290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-addiction","tag-cannabis-addiction","tag-cannabis-research","tag-cannabis-study","tag-gateway-drugs","tag-is-cannabis-a-gateway-drug","tag-is-weed-a-gateway-drug","tag-marijuana-addiction","tag-weed-addiction"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v26.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cannabis Central<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Anti-cannabis advocates have long touted that marijuana is a gateway drug that 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