h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Cannabis has been demonised as the Gateway drug to "harder" drugs, (Es, Heroin, Crack, Smack, Ketamine, Speed, Cocaine, I could go on).

THIS IS A BIG LIE!

Cigarettes and Alcohol are the gateway drugs, and miraculously they're legal ('cos the Goverment gets a ton of cash of the duty).

Pot smokers are generally too binned to be bothered to try any other drugs, we, erm, they just sit there and discuss religious symbolism in Star Wars (Jedi = Taoism) and random stuff like that... I could go on...

I can't be bothered though

actually, you are wrong. it is only nicotine that is the gateway drug to addiction.

this is because it causes permenant changes to the brain.

We know that this is true, because the researchers looked into all sorts of addiction, not just drugs, and in some cases (like for example being addicted to food), some of the poeple involved had been tee-total all of their life, but had smoked.

The results also seemed to show (but not strongly enough to say prove) that small amounts of smoking would be enough to cause the permanent change.

I don't know what the hell you're thinking but I know that 9 out 10 severley drunk people are more likely to ingest or try drugs they've never tried because THE INHIBITIONS ARE TOO LOW ! I know people that, severly drunk, will ingest LSD and forget about it 2 minutes. If that isn't proof that alchohol is a gateway drug, then you are probably too drunk.

The problems you are refering to about the inhibitions being too low is caused because for most people their inhibitions are set way too high the rest of the time. The simple solution to this is to learn how not to be so inhibited when you are not drunk, so that when you are drunk it is easier to stop yourself from doing something you wouldn't do normally.

Also, when talking about gateway drugs, what is being talked about isn't something that makes you more likely to get high on one occasion or a few occasions, but something which you use a relatively small number of times and it results in a permenent or at least long time decrease in your ability to resist getting addicted to something.

I agree totally

Im only 16, but i've smoked weed for about a year and a half, and i've never done any other drugs (E's, coke etc..)

i believe that alcohol is a more dangerous substance than cannabis, i mean whats safer? falling asleep cos you're too stoned or getting run over by a car cos you're mortal drunk and dont know whats even going on?

Well not yet you have'nt (actually you probably won't see this )
It's a bit old.

Anyway I think Cannibis is definetly a gateway to harder drugs. It should stay illegal.

Well I believe that there is no gateway drug at all. But if there was one, it certainly wouldn't be Mary-Jane. I agree that cigarettes && alcohol would be more likely seeing as they are more easily accessable but I have smoked cigarettes, i've drank && am I a heroin addict? No.

My theory is that if someone is going to do harder drugs like heroin or crack, then that is what they want to do in the first place. people who want to try hard drugs will try them but there is the case of having connections to dealers in order to get them. they might do weed first because it is eaiser to get hold of and it is simply there. if they could get crack first then they would. Your average bud smoker who wanted to try bud in the first place isn't going to become a crack head cos' they are only gunna smoke bud. most people who enjoy the herb do not have any interest what so ever in other drugs and if they do, they would have had this interest before they even smoked bud anyway.

you can say anything is a gateway drug at the end of the day. why weed? why not caffine? bud shouldn't be singled out n neither should any other substance because there isn't a gateway drug. drugs are drugs and they are all different. Rawwwr. )

If cannabis is a gateway drug to heroin etc., then sex is a gateway to paedophilia etc., and we should all stop shagging!