Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

To: robertpaulsen
The legality of alcohol has made it less likely that these law abiding "drug" users would gateway to illegal heroin.

I would agree, for a myrid of reasons. Making pot legal has two effects, both at odds with each other. On the one hand, a law abiding legal pot user, like today's alcohol user, will be less likely to gateway to illegal heroin.

I agree again.

On the other hand, there is a percentage who will gateway to illegal heroin (either from alcohol or legal pot). If the legalization of pot will increase the number of pot users (and I've always contended that pot use could at least double or triple), and a given percentage of those will gateway to heroin, we will have more heroin users.

That's if you buy the theory that a person using a drug of any kind is more inclined to use a drug like heroin. I don't believe that is necessarily the case. I do know with prohibition, you tend to cut off the milder drugs and increase the harder drugs. I find it amazing that heroin is a much more available drug in the US than, say, raw opium, which was a staple in this country in the mid to late 1800's, yet a far less addictive drug than heroin.

153 posted on 07/22/2006 10:41:06 PM PDT by Nate505
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 145 | View Replies ]


To: Nate505
"That's if you buy the theory that a person using a drug of any kind is more inclined to use a drug like heroin."

I thought we both agreed that the vast majority of heroin users did use other drugs before heroin. Mere coincidence?

157 posted on 07/23/2006 6:03:49 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 153 | View Replies ]

To: Nate505
"That's if you buy the theory that a person using a drug of any kind is more inclined to use a drug like heroin."

I meant to add this to my other post. When I say "more inclined", I mean an existing drug user is more inclined to gateway to heroin than a non-user.

158 posted on 07/23/2006 6:11:40 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 153 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson