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.

[MrLeRoy]

Identical twins may have the same DNA, but they are completely different people.

Exactly what makes this research bunk.

[Wolfie]

Then we MUST outlaw alcohol and cigarettes, the TRUE gateway drugs that start off the whole experience. Of course, that assumes one wants to maintain intellectual consistency, which is admittedly a stretch in these parts.

[MrLeRoy]

LeRoy supports legalized drugs because he hopes the rest of these idiots kill themselves with drugs.

That is a lie.

[MrLeRoy]

I have vary little doubt that we would have a much bigger "stoned people" problem if pot were decriminalized.

How much bigger, and why do you think so?

[presidio9]

That's because you WODdies won't touch post #60 with a ten-foot pole.

Identical twins studies are an accepted scientific method of determining an enviornment's effects on human behavior. Nobody bothered with post 60 because your point is irrelevant.

[Wolfie]

If the study didn't control for alcohol and cigarettes, the use of which would have led to marijuana use, then the study is hopelessly flawed.

[Dead Corpse]

Bread. Water. Mother's Milk. The REALLY REAL Gateway substances...

[MrLeRoy]

What fun is boxing when you just have to hold your fist out and let the other guy run into it?

[presidio9]

That is a lie.

Please provide proof that it is a lie.

[sweet_diane]

"Of course those who use MJ are more likely to use other drugs than those that don't; they are farther along on the path of realization that their government and schools have been lying to them all along, and are trying to discover the truth for themselves."

good point.

[aruanan]

Critics of the gateway theory say that persons predisposed to use hard drugs would likely do so regardless of whether they used marijuana first - marijuana just happens to be the most available so it comes first.

It's also interesting to see the way this is set up: marijuana is either a gateway drug (that is, there is something inherently insidious about marijuana itself, leading its users on to more and more dangerous drugs) or marijuana is used by those who just happen to be inherently predisposed to use drugs.

A twin test correctly done would help to rule out the latter if it showed that the drug use or non-use of one twin tended to parallel that of the other, widely separated, twin. This would demonstrate that there could be something inherent in a predisposition to drug use. As described, the experiment did not do this. It simply showed that if a person started using drugs at an early age, he tended to use other drugs later and that if a person didn't start using drugs at an early age, he wasn't using them later. This still doesn't mean, though, that anyone is inherently predisposed by non-environmental factors to start using drugs.

[MrLeRoy]

Identical twins studies are an accepted scientific method of determining an enviornment's effects on human behavior.

What is NOT accepted---nor true---is the researchers' assumption that "twins, having been raised in the same household, would have environmental experiences that were highly concordant."

Nobody bothered with post 60 because your point is irrelevant.

Assumptions underlying research conclusions are irrelevant? I'm sure you wish that was true, but it's clearly not.

[MrLeRoy]

LeRoy supports legalized drugs because he hopes the rest of these idiots kill themselves with drugs.

That is a lie.

Please provide proof that it is a lie.

Asking for proof of a negative ("MrLeRoy never said he hopes the rest of these idiots kill themselves with drugs") is logically inadmissible---the burden is on YOU to provide evidence for your claim that I hope the rest of these idiots kill themselves with drugs.

[presidio9]

Then we MUST outlaw alcohol and cigarettes, the TRUE gateway drugs that start off the whole experience.

Because so many kids try drugs and alcohol without ever moving up to pot. The problem starts when they move up to pot. Then they become 85 times more likely to use cocaine.

[MrLeRoy]

so many kids try drugs and alcohol without ever moving up to pot.

And many kids try pot without ever moving up to cocaine.

[MrLeRoy]

The problem starts when they move up to pot. Then they become 85 times more likely to use cocaine.

Children who drink are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than non-drinkers.

[Wolfie]

90 percent of kids who drink and smoke try marijuana, and that's not a problem for you? I guess you don't care about the kids after all.

[PaxMacian]

God has nothing to do with herb being illegal.
I am quite certain that you will burn in hell with your all seeing Ozzy father you admire so much for your blasphemy.

[Skooz]

The WOD/anti-WOD Rule of Thumb For Determining the Viability of Scientific Studies:

The studies that support my position are scientific, peer reviewed, non-biased and beyond reproach. They are the final word.

The studies which purport to bolster your position are biased, based on bogus data, and are carefully conducted to achieve results which promote the economic or political self-interest of the group doing the study.

[PaxMacian]

The Earth is not round, at best our theories represent it as spherical.