Marijuana is Not a Gateway Drug

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MARIJUANA IS NOT A GATEWAY DRUG

Steve Dillon

July 25, 2011

There is no valid scientific study providing that use of marijuana leads to use or

addiction to more serious drugs. Marijuana is not a gateway drug as shown by the

following valid scientific studies:

1. In the Matter of Marijuana Rescheduling, Docket 86-22, Opinion,

Recommended Ruling, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Decision of

Administrative Law Judge (1988), the D.E.A.s own administrative lawJudge, Francis L. Young concluded not only that marijuanas medical utility

had been adequately demonstrated, but that marijuana had been shown to be

one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man.

2. Marijuana Myths/Marijuana Facts by Lynn Zimmer, Ph.D and John P.

Morgan M.D. (1997) reported that 72 million Americans had tried marijuana(now over 100 million) but much fewer Americans have tried cocaine or hard

drugs. For every 100 people who have tried marijuana, only 28 tried cocaine

one timeand only 1 used cocaine weekly In conclusion, Marijuana doesnot cause people to use hard drugs. Marijuana is the most popular illegal

drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less

popular drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used

marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, forthe large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway

drug.

3. National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Marijuana

and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base (1999) concluded that there is

no evidence that the drug effects of marijuana are casually linked to thesubsequent use of other illicit drugs. Furthermore, it stated that marijuana is

not a gateway drug to the extent that it is a cause or even that it is the most

significant predictor of serious drug use.

4. American Journal of Public Health study led by Andrew Golub, Ph.D of the

National Development and Research Institute (2001) reported a careful

analysis of all the data suggests that the gateway phenomenon thatcharacterized the drug use subculture of some baby boomers doesnt apply in

the same manner to the generation that started using marijuana in the mid

1990s. Most importantly, all indications are that the rate of progression toharder drugs may be continuing to decline even today.

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5. Canadian Senates study (2002) Cannabis: our Position for a Canadian Public

Policy reports cannabis itself is not a cause of other drug use

6. The American Journal of Psychiatry reported a study at the University Of

Pittsburg School of Pharmacy (2006) which found that adolescent marijuana

use was not a reliable predictor of later substance abuse. Researchers foundthat adolescents who used marijuana prior to using other drugs, including

alcohol, and tobacco, were no more likely to develop a substance abuse

disorder than other subjects in the study. The study calls into question thelong-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy

for six decades. Investigators found that environmental factors (e.g., a

greater exposure to illegal drugs in their neighborhoods) as well as subjects

proneness to deviancy were the two characteristics that most commonlypredicted substance abuse. They concluded, the emphasis on the drugs

themselves, rather than other more important factors that shape a persons

behavior, has been detrimental to drug policy and prevention programs.

7. The book, Marijuana is Safer by Steve Fox, Paul Armentano, and MasonTvert (2009) addresses the myth that marijuana is a gateway drug as claimed,

by Karen Tandy, D.E.A. Administrator (2005-2007). She said, Marijuana is

a gateway drug. In drug law enforcement, rarely do we meet heroin or

cocaine addicts who did not start their drug use with marijuana. The fact isthat the overwhelming majority of marijuana users never try another illicit

substance. Ms. Tandy neglects to mention that virtually everyone who has

ever used cannabis tried tobacco and alcohol first. According to the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services only 3.5% of U.S. citizens have

ever tried crack and fewer than 2.0% of Americans have ever tried heroin

fewer than 15.0% of Americans have tried cocaine.

8. Journal of Health and Social Behavior reported a study at the University of

New Hampshire (2010) which found that the factors most likely to beassociated with a subjects progression to hard drug use were age, stress, and

whether or not they were employed following high school. According to the

lead investigator Karen Van Gundy, it really didnt matter if someone used

marijuana or not as a teen. She also implied that criminalizing marijuanausers could inadvertently drive individuals toward more serious illicit drug

use. She stated that if we overly criminalize behaviors like marijuana use

among teens, this could interfere with opportunities for education andemployment later on, which, in turn, could be creating more drug use.

9. In the article Closing the Gateway to Drug Abuse with Cannabis (2010)by Paul Armentano it states For decades, opponents of marijuana reform

policies have falsely argued that marijuana is a gateway to drug abuse a

guilt by association charge that implies that because tens of millions of people

have used cannabis and a minority of these tens of millions have also tried

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other drugs that somehow it must have been the pot that triggered the hard

drug use. But while reformers have been consistent and accurate to point

out that the so called gateway theory lacks any staticical support (forexample, the U.S. Government contends that more than four in ten Americans

have used cannabis, yet fewer than two percent have ever tried heroin), few in

our movement have publicized the fact that for many people cannabis can be apowerful exit drug for those looking to curb or cease their use of alcohol,

opiates, or narcotics. The author cites the Harm Reduction Journal with a

2010 study that found that cannabisusing adults enrolled in substance abusetreatment programs fared equally or better than non-users in various

outcome categories, including treatment completion. He also refers to a 2009

study in the American Journal on Addictions reporting that moderate

cannabis use improved retention in naltrexone treatment amongopiatedependent subjects in a New York state impatient detoxification

program. He refers to an additional study in the journal

Neuropsychopharmacology (2009) demonstrating that oral THC

suppressed sensitivity to opiate dependence and conditioning.

In conclusion, as Dr. John P. Morgan stated: In the United States, the claim thatmarijuana acts as a gateway to the use of other drugs serves mainly as a rhetorical tool for

frightening Americans into believing that winning the war against heroin and cocaine

requires waging a battle against the casual use of marijuana. Not only is the claim

intellectually indefensible, but the battle is wasteful of resources and fated to failure.

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Marijuana is Not a Gateway Drug