ifinnegan: Yes. And getting in the habit of getting high with pot makes it easy to move on to getting high on opiates, which most people would find more comforting than pot.
A Navy Vet: It's the rare case that someone who starts on Pot doesn't want the highs and lows of the other drugs. Mark my words...the States/Cities that are allowing legal Marijuana WILL experience more drug problems and associated criminal activity.
Regardless of your anecdotes, the DEA said in 2016 that pot is not a gateway drug.
From: Marijuana to remain illegal under federal law, DEA says:
On other points, the DEA report noted marijuana has a "high potential" for abuse and can result in psychological dependence. It said around 19 million individuals in the U.S. used marijuana monthly in 2012 and that contemporaneous studies showed around 4.3 million individuals met diagnostic criteria for marijuana dependence.
It did not find, however, that marijuana is a "gateway drug."
"Little evidence supports the hypothesis that initiation of marijuana use leads to an abuse disorder with other illicit substances," the report said.
Nice find!
I don't care what a fedgov agency reports. I saw first hand pot users graduate to harder drugs. Go to any homeless encampment and ask the addicts if they started on coke, meth, or heroin first. No, they almost always started on pot or alcohol which leads to lack of ambition and the inability to function within societal norms. I feel bad for the mentally ill, but many are just bums who want no responsibility.