Study: Marijuana Does Not Lead to Hard Drugs

Reuters ^ | Dec. 2, 2002 | unknown

[Sparta]

— WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Countering a basic principle of American anti-drug policies, an independent U.S. study concluded on Monday that marijuana use does not lead teenagers to experiment with hard drugs like heroin or cocaine.

The study by the private, nonprofit RAND Drug Policy Research Center rebutted the theory that marijuana acts as a so-called gateway drug to more harmful narcotics, a key argument against legalizing pot in the United States.

The researchers did not advocate easing restrictions in marijuana, but questioned the focus on this substance in drug control efforts.

Using data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse between 1982 and 1994, the study concluded teenagers who took hard drugs were predisposed to do so whether they tried marijuana first or not.

"Kids get their first opportunity to use marijuana years before they get their first exposure to hard drugs," said Andrew Morral, lead author of the RAND study.

"Marijuana is not a gateway drug. It's just the first thing kids often come across."

Morral said 50 percent of U.S. teenagers had access to marijuana by the age of 16, while the majority had no exposure to cocaine, heroin or hallucinogens until they were 20.

The study, published in the British journal Addiction, does not advocate legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, which has been linked to side-effects including short-term memory loss.

But given limited resources, Morral said the U.S. government should reconsider the prominence of marijuana in its much-publicized "war on drugs."

"To a certain extent we are diverting resources away from hard drug problems," he said. "Spending money on marijuana control may not be having downstream consequences on the use of hard drugs."

Researchers say predisposition to drug use has been linked to genetic factors and one's environment, including family dynamics and the availability of drugs in the neighborhood.

[tacticalogic]

As for the policy implications, suppose that the authirs are correct, the gateway effect is not a cause. They established, then, that MJ use is a great detector of the subsequent use of harder drugs. So, why not continue preventing it so that a person caught does NOT graduate to harder drugs?

That depends on what your definition of a "great" indicator is. When you compare the number of marijuana users to the number of hard drug users, it doesn't look all that reliable.

[MrLeRoy]

Always looking for every little reason to legalize, no matter the subject of discussion.

You: "I wonder what this individual would do if marijuana were legal"

[tacticalogic]

There are people who like to drink. Some of those like to drink alot. We (the public in general) don't consider alcohol to be a "gateway" drug. And my question is, why do some consider marijuana to be a "gateway" drug? Again, I'm not saying it is, just why would people think that when they don't think that about alcohol?

The government's official position has been that marijuana is a "gateway drug" since Harry Anslinger first made the assertion in 1954. There isn't any evidence he had any clinical data to support the claim, but Congress was calling into question his previous claims that marijuana cause white women to seek sexual relations with blacks and entertainers, and that marijuana was responsible for "satanic music" (jazz and swing). The claim has been repeated enough times that people believe it, but there has never been any clinical evidence to support it, and much that refutes it, including the 1970 study by the Schafer Commission, who were hand picked by Richard Nixon to prove that marijuana was dangerous.

[kidd]

you missed my point. RAND is not an unbiased sponsor. I have nothing against RAND. I guess I could have also said:
"Hershey's produces study that shows chocolate cures cancer".

[jayef]

Oh, and there was that article thingy at the top of the string, but . . .

[jayef]

Good story. Thanks!

[MrLeRoy]

RAND is not an unbiased sponsor.

Provide evidence for your claim.

[jayef]

What you observed was a correlation. You folks make the same logical errors over and over and over. I've tried to help, but it just doesn't sink in.

[jayef]

Can you answer the following questions as well?

Have you used alcohol?
Have you used cough medicines?
Have you used aspirin?
Have you used . . .

[sausageseller]

Sally Rand - A cyberspace tribute to Sally Rand, the famous fan dancer and star of the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. ... The Fantabulous Sally Rand.

[sausageseller]

Evidence?

Ken Rand's Web Page - Ken Rand writes science fiction and fantasy short stories and novels, as well as writer-related articles and interviews. Ken Rand's Web Page. ... http://www.sfwa.org/members/Rand/

[breakem]

And Rand is making money raising or selling MJ? Please describe their bias regarding drugs and how it disqualifies them from objective research.

[Wolfie]

Duh...I buy "Rand" brand marijuana all the time.

But seriously, some folks will always shoot the messenger when they don't like the message.

[spodbox]

The jump from legal to illegal is perhaps the only real indication of a "gateway" effect. The simple reason it's marijuana that gets this distinction is that it is (by far) the mostly widely used and easiest of the illegal drugs to obtain.

One could compare the jump from illegal marijuana to legal marijuana to the natural jump from underage drinking to legal adult drinking. Who are the worst binge drinkers? Underage college students. Often you'll find such behavior stops when the student turns 21. The "Forbidden Fruit" phenomenom is very powerful, especially for young people.

[realpatriot71]

Again, I'm not saying it is, just why would people think that when they don't think that about alcohol?

I think you would see similiar "trends" with alcohol or cigaretes were you to look. However, alcohol and tabacco don't carry the same social stigma nor the same risk associated with illegal drugs. If you think about it what was the first drug you eve saw, probably someone smoking a cigarette or drinking a beer

I guess my point was for a certain group of people, they were bound to use hard drugs with or without the presence of MJ because their personalities tended to lead them in that direction.

I suppose there could be something said for the fact that if a person tried MJ and found out they didn't die (or start listening to jazz and raping white women), then they might be more apt to try other more dangerous drugs. In this sense MJ is only a "gateway" because the propaganda about MJ didn't hold true, and the person think that what is said about harder more dangerous drugs is not true either. Give kids REAL honesty and many of the gateway correlations in this sense go away.

[thegreatbeast]

Yes to all those questions. And I used marijuana to my detriment. What else do you want to know?
Marijuana, or anything substance that alters your consciousness or perception of reality, is bad for people. Whether or not their is a cost to be extracted is a personal experience but society has only one choice in its view of such things and that is to be against them catagorically. We can't afford to give out "passes" to reality. It requires all your attention. We all have to struggle to stay in the Here and Now and not go off thinking that things are the way the way we wish them to be.

[thegreatbeast]

One meaning of the word suggests: "Imply as a possibility".
That is certainly in effect here. Again, studies are worthless in this area unless detailed, psychological interviews are conducted and compiled. But to aver that the suggestion that marijuana is a gateway drug does not exist is to sugget that you have been smoking much too recently!
You write that you were "an abuser of the legal drugs Vicodin and Percocet" but then stipulate " I never used any hard drugs..." If you hold such a stance then you know too little about the subject because Vicodin & Percocet are robust members of the hardest class of drugs, opiates (I believe), and suggests an inability to 'fess up to your own experience. (Something I know about too).

[jayef]

And Marijuana is the only drug that alters conscience? What about Prozac, Xanax, Paxil, Welbutrin and all those other "consciousness altering" drugs prescribed by physicians on a daily basis? Should we stop that from happening too? Are those people "escaping reality" to their detriment? What about the drinkers? The people that hit the bottle as soon as they walk in the door of their homes (you know who you are)? Is their choice of intoxicant OK with you? I guess some escapes are better than others, right?

[tacticalogic]

One meaning of the word suggests: "Imply as a possibility". That is certainly in effect here. Again, studies are worthless in this area unless detailed, psychological interviews are conducted and compiled. But to aver that the suggestion that marijuana is a gateway drug does not exist is to sugget that you have been smoking much too recently!

The relatively large number of marijuana users weight against the number of hard drug users suggests that if marijuana is a gateway drug, it isn't a very effective one.