Pot use opens the door to other drugs, many of which are instantly addictive... unlike alchohol. And those drugs have killed plenty.
Done much in the way of dabbling with addictive drugs? My guess would be "no."
As one who experimented too much with a few of the so-called "instantly addictive" drugs in my wanton youth, and as one who has had literally DOZENS of friends who did likewise, I can tell you with certainty that "instantly addictive" is a semantic trick it behooves the medical community to push, because it means a lot of dough for them from people who invest power in the substance rather than in the mind. VICTICRAT mentality is enabled by the "addiction is a disease" myth.
It's a behavior. Any "disease" whose symptoms can be made to disappear by a simple change in behavior, is a "disease" in wish only.
For what it's worth, I've been "addicted" by any definition to three things: booze, pot, and tobacco. Of the three, pot was BY FAR the most difficult to break, but break it I did, many moons ago. But the reality is that an unhealthy addiction is actually a bad habit. For me, breaking the bad habit of daily habitual pot smoking was MUCH more difficult than breaking the bad habit of drinking (and being tossed in jail or waking up in strange places multiple times with no memory of how I got there!!!!) or smoking cigarettes. Just an interesting observation.
You're kidding, right? Instantly addictive? What kind of babble is that. You sound like those self righteous Know(nothing)-it-alls who claim smoking a single cigarette immediately makes you an addict.
Pot use? Not particularly. Addictive substances make children more susceptible to other addictive substances, and the younger the children, the easier it is for them to become addicted.
Before brain maturity, anywhere from the age 19-25, exposure to addictive substances may actually permanently affect the development of the brain, making them more susceptible to addiction, and harder for them to break an addiction. Plus, it is now known that if children become addicted to one thing, it becomes easier for them to become addicted to other things.
This is not entirely chemical addiction either. Behaviors such as gambling and other obsessive/compulsive behaviors fit into this paradigm. And addictions are subdivided into both psychological (PSY) and physiological (PHY) effects.
1) Stimulants. Strong PSY dependance, weak PHY.
2) Sedatives and hypnotics. Mild to strong PSY, severe PHY.
3) Opiate and opioid analgesics. Mild to severe, both.
Importantly, substances like caffeine and nicotine are part of this picture, and are rated far stronger than marijuana for their addictive effects.
The bottom line is that there is no direct linkage between marijuana and other drugs; except for the *social* link. That is, if you are in a group that obtains and uses marijuana, they are likely to be involved with other behaviors, some of which are addictive, and some of which are just foolish.