Researcher's Study of Twins Bolsters 'Gateway Theory' (For Early Marijuana Use)

Medscape ^ | 2003 | Brown University Behavior Letter

[shrinkermd]

Many studies have examined the "gateway" theory, that marijuana use at a young age leads to use of harder drugs as a person grows older. While there is a general consensus among studies that those who use marijuana are much more likely to use hard drugs and that hard drug users usually use marijuana first, there is lively debate surrounding the reasons for these dynamics.

[tacticalogic]

Right! "criticism was of the study".

You parse better than Bill Clinton. Peddle the spin somewhere else, weasel.

[tacticalogic]

Seems like he is criticizing the study. hmmm

The study is what it is. If it is presented as something it's not, then the fault is in the presentation.

[AxelPaulsen]

bttt.

Ozzy Osborne says that pot led his son Jack, to be a user of harder more addictive drugs.

[Gianni]

Sorry, I know this was a long time ago, but I'm just catching up on a little reading. I havt to now admit that I laughed out loud (and my wife is probably questioning my sanity) when I read:

The only thing stopping my mother from becoming a heroine addict is the illegality of pot.

Thank you, P9, for today's entertainment. I think I'm gonna have to create an 'about' page so I can start putting these gems on there.

Sorry, I can't post it just once:

The only thing stopping my mother from becoming a heroine addict is the illegality of pot.

Let's hope your mother doesn't move to Nevada (for other obvious reasons).

[AxelPaulsen]

But did you know that Ozzy Osborne said on MTV that the use of pot led his son Jack, to be a user of harder more addictive drugs?

Put that on your archieves page.

[Gianni]

Blah blah blah Ozzy Osbourne?

Yes, this from the crowd that continually calls anyone against the WOD a druggie and accuses us of frying our brains and mental illness (look back a few hundred posts for examples... or go your 'my comments' page).

Yet Ozzy is a credible source for medical information. Don't forget to stop by the hardware store tomorrow and grab another tube of KrazyGlue to continue holding your political philosophy together.

[AxelPaulsen]

Why in Heaven's name would you want to legalize anything that could produce something like Ozzy?

[Gianni]

Why in Heaven's name would you want to legalize anything that could produce something like Ozzy?

Unfortunately, Ozzy is the product of much, much more than MJ.

And 'legalize' may be a little bit over the top. I would have no problem with pot remaining illegal should the WODders go through the proper channels and attain Constitutional approval for their actions (i.e. amendments, and lots of 'em if they continue all the things they're doing right now).

'Till then, I'm afraid I'm not aware of any Constitution (federal or state) that specifically authorizes regulation of such substances. I don't think it's inappropriate to stand on founding principles that government derives its just authority from the will of the people, and that arbitrary (extraconstitutional) excersize of power by a simple majority is democratic tyranny.

[Ken H]

While concluding that there was a causal relationship between early marijuana use and subsequent other drug use, the authors could only speculate about why the association exists. They offered a number of theories, including:

Initial experiences with marijuana, which are frequently rated as pleasurable, may encourage continued use and broader experimentation. Seemingly safe early experiences with marijuana may reduce the perceived risk of using other drugs. For example, since the vast majority of marijuana users do not experience legal consequences, the strength of legal sanctions diminishes.

Experience with accessing marijuana may expose individuals to other drugs as they come into contact with drug dealers.

The authors would be refuting the gateway theory with this explanation, correct?

According to the authors, this argument provided strong impetus for the Netherlands to effectively decriminalize marijuana use in an attempt to separate marijuana from the hard drug market. The authors wrote that this approach may have been partially successful, as rates of cocaine use among those who have used marijuana are lower in the Netherlands than in the United States.

Huh?? How could that be?? < /snicker>

[Ken H]

The following is directly from the JAMA article itself.

Conclusions  Associations between early cannabis use and later drug use and abuse/dependence cannot solely be explained by common predisposing genetic or shared environmental factors. The association may arise from the effects of the peer and social context within which cannabis is used and obtained. In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs. JAMA Abstract of this article

Is the headline of this article--

Researcher's Study of Twins Bolsters 'Gateway Theory'

justified by the conclusions in the JAMA article?

[Ken H]

The authors concluded that marijuana had a "causal" role as a risk factor for other drug use.

I see no such conclusion in the JAMA Abstract of the original article. Does anyone else?

[LittleJoe]

Typical. Losing the argument on facts so you start screaming.

I'm not screaming, I'm laughing.

Argument? You haven't presented one.

Facts? You don't have any.

[LittleJoe]

I agree with you 100%, Pax.

I hold as much contempt for the Christian basher I mentioned as I do for the drug warrior.

They are both in the same business...Hate

[LittleJoe]

Kinda makes you wonder... why people really think that legalizing crack is a good thing.

I don't know anyone who thinks that crack is a good thing.

If you like it...Well, it's a free country and I do not have the right to dictate to you what you can or can not consume.

Just remember this. A government that is strong enough to win the war on drugs is strong enough to enslave you.

Do you really want to win the war on drugs?

Do you really want to be a slave?

[gd124]

Say old chum, have you heard that none other than Ozzie Osborn himself says that pot smoking led his son Jack to try harder drugs?

Didn't he also say that coffee leads to amphetamines?

[Gianni]

I see no such conclusion in the JAMA Abstract of the original article. Does anyone else?

No, and the oft-repeated claim that MJ users are "85 times more likely to use coke" is not supported by the article either. What it says is that of people who have used coke, they have also used MJ 85 to 1.

Turning that sentence around takes more than some white-out and a pen.

[aruanan]

The association may arise from the effects of the peer and social context within which cannabis is used and obtained. In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs.

So much for the idea of causality. This reduces marijuana to a pleasant attendent or reinforcing circumstance.

As I said earlier, the "twin study" as presented in the article did not do what twin studies are used to demonstrate, an inherent predisposition toward disease or behavior. This one didn't claim an association between twins and their drug-using behavior. That is, if one did or did not use drugs, the other was more likely than not to follow suit; thus, the lack of such association suggests that one is not genetically predisposed to recreational drug use.

The claim that use of marijuana at a young age tended to predict later experimentation with other drugs did not, though, demonstrate that marijuana possessed any sort of inherent perniciousness that would cause a user to progress to harder, more dangerous drugs. The researchers, as they admit above in the excerpt from the abstract, failed to control for social effects, which can have a greater influence on human behavior than either genetics or pharmacology. This is a major failing of the study.

For all we hear about drugs causing people to become brain-fried and given over to pro-drug enthusiasm, the sheer level of lack of analysis and thought in this thread among the anti-anti-war on drugs crowd is telling. It demonstrates that such a condition is a trait shared at least to the same degree by all those who are going to maintain their chosen position no matter what.

They're in good company, though. This mindset is common both in religion as well as science. It appears to be, unfortunately, a default condition of the human mind either to persist doggedly in a belief demonstrated to be wrong or to embrace precipitously whatever appears to support whatever position one happens to want to maintain.

[shrinkermd]

From the AMA abstract, the following probably explains why they reached their conclusion.

Results Individuals who used cannabis by age 17 years had odds of other drug use, alcohol dependence, and drug abuse/dependence that were 2.1 to 5.2 times higher than those of their co-twin, who did not use cannabis before age 17 years. Controlling for known risk factors (early-onset alcohol or tobacco use, parental conflict/separation, childhood sexual abuse, conduct disorder, major depression, and social anxiety) had only negligible effects on these results. These associations did not differ significantly between monozygotic and dizygotic twins.

Conclusions Associations between early cannabis use and later drug use and abuse/dependence cannot solely be explained by common predisposing genetic or shared environmental factors. The association may arise from the effects of the peer and social context within which cannabis is used and obtained. In particular, early access to and use of cannabis may reduce perceived barriers against the use of other illegal drugs and provide access to these drugs.

I fail to see the conflict.

[headsonpikes]

"I fail to see the conflict."

Well, "the effects of the peer and social context" would seem to account for the observed data without the invention of a causal bridge.

IOW, we don't have a scientific explanation, we have a perfectly fine 'human' explanation.

So we don't need the pseudo-science to explain anything, except to continue to justify the harvesting of politically-driven research grants.

[cinFLA]

Do you really want crack sold at the local mini-mart?