Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug?

Many people believe that marijuana is a gateway drug. But what does that mean? And how do we know if that is true? Well these questions will be answered in this post, along with many more. So keep reading, you might learn a thing or two.

First let me start off by saying this, do not believe everything that you are told. Some people claim that marijuana is a gateway drug just to convince others not to smoke it. In all reality, the choice between letting marijuana be a gateway drug is all up to you (more on this below).

Whether marijuana is a gateway drug or not, I never recommend trying any addictive drug. The life you live is yours, so do as you please, but controlled substance drugs (such as cocaine, meth, etc.) can end up controlling your life. In some cases, weed is the least of someone’s worries.

What Is A Gateway Drug?

Anything that is a gateway means that it leads to something else. Think about an actual, physical gateway. It can take you from one place to another. When talking about drugs, a gateway drug is a drug that will lead you to try other drugs. Most of the time, this means going from a not-so-harmful drug to a hardcore, addictive drug. Studies done on this have shown that this effect is true, in some cases.

If you were to Google the definition of a gateway drug, the literal text says: “a drug which supposedly leads the user on to more addictive or dangerous drugs.” Most of the pages that follow this definition talk about marijuana. But why is marijuana seen as the biggest gateway drug?

Facts Behind It

Scientific studies have been done on groups of people to determine whether marijuana was really a gateway drug. One study showed that people who already had an alcohol drinking problem had a higher chance of that problem worsening if they smoked marijuana compared to those that didn’t smoke it.

Another study showed that many young people that smoked marijuana had a higher chance of smoking tobacco. Tobacco and alcohol are actually seen as gateway drugs themselves. However, in some cases marijuana can lead someone to start using one or the other (or even both).

Adolescent marijuana smokers have a high chance of getting addicted to tobacco and/ or alcohol at some point in life, according to some scientific studies. But it does not stop with tobacco and alcohol. In some cases, these are just a start down a road of hard drug use.

In some cases, smoking marijuana has caused people with an addictive mindset to curiously try other drugs that alter the mind. Some of these drugs can be psychedelic, such as acid or mushrooms. Other drugs can be more hardcore and addicting, like many types of pills, cocaine, methamphetamine (meth), spice, and others alike.

Why would someone try a harder drug than marijuana? Well, for most of those people, the reason is to search for a stronger high. Some people will smoke marijuana for so long and get bored of the high, thinking it is not strong enough. So they may try another drug that can get the job done. I do not suggest doing this, as it can lead to a hard drug life that typically does not end very well.

The Truth Behind It All

So can smoking some marijuana really lead to all of this? Well the truth is, it all depends on the person. Social environments play a big role in drug use. Some people are raised in areas that have a history of hard drug use, or may come from families with drug issues. These people are more likely to use harder drugs compared to those who are raised in areas where drugs are hard to come by or raised by families that have no drug history.

Pressure to use a drug is another factor. The biggest example of this being peer pressure; some friends that smoke weed together may be pressured by one another to try a different drug. While this does not happen to most of us, it is still a thing that goes on in many young people’s lives. Someone might think that a drug is “cool” and may want to try it.

An example of this is cigarettes. Years ago, many tobacco companies would market cigarettes as a “cool” thing to smoke. Those who smoked marijuana may have believed that cigarettes were something that was “cooler” to smoke. Believe it or not, this is an example of pressure to use a drug. And while some tobacco companies made cigarettes seem like a not-so-bad thing, you have to remember that they are still highly addictive and have caused many deaths. But what is the death count from marijuana? Zero.

To anyone that this may influence, please stick to marijuana. It is not addicting, you cannot overdose on it, and it cannot control your life (unless you truly allow it to). Any drug that is addicting can dramatically affect you, your actions, and those around you if you use it enough times. And as a gateway drug, marijuana is only as such if you let it be. Anyone can truly stop themselves from using any type of drug, unless it is needed for medical purposes.

To conclude this topic, marijuana is NOT a gateway drug. If someone allows themselves to move on from marijuana to a hardcore drug, they made that choice for themselves, marijuana did not cause that. Sadly, this is the case for most weak-minded people. So do not allow yourself to be weak, and just stick to weed!