[realpatriot71]

What kind of logic is that? It's like saying, "The engine of a car is not a simple mechanism. It's just something people use to get to work." The second sentence has nothing to do with the first.

No it isn't. It speaks to the nature causal relationship. Take people who eat dessert. Did their meal lead them to (make them) eat the dessert, or did the meal just happen to come first.

Gateway drug theory says that MJ use will lead to harder drugs. The study just says that people who are going to use hard drugs are going to use hard drugs wether MJ is the first drug they come across or not. Get it?

[TopQuark]

Gateway drug theory says that MJ use will lead to harder drugs. Well, it actually says that such consequence is more likely; that's a minor point, however.

The study just says that people who are going to use hard drugs are going to use hard drugs wether MJ is the first drug they come across or not.

That is the point you missed in my post: the author, extrapolating his work without a proper basis, says so. There is nothing in the study that even addresses the issue.

[FreePaul]

When I was at an age when I might have been exposed to drug use there were no sources for drugs and I didn't even know anyone who used anything (except alcohol and tobacco). In later years I have known quite a number of people who tried marijuana. Some continued casual use, very few even tried "hard" drugs. There were those few, although, who tried and got hooked on any kind of drugs they could get their hands on. There were those who became hopless alcoholics without ever trying any other drugs. Of those who quit using marijuana I don't believe that any made that decision because it was against the law. I never saw any connection between alcohol use, marijuana use and "hard" drug abuse. The long term choices seemed to be those of the individuals involved.