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Study says marijuana is not a gateway drug »
Posted by: Wil 1 year, 8 months agoMarijuana is not a "gateway" drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study. Moreover, the study's findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades.
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Comments: 372
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djn3nunez3
Dec. 5, 2006, 11:39 a.m.Not only does the 'Herb' have medicinal uses, the seeds can and have been used for food. Hemp products have been used throughout human history. I beleive the constitution was written on Hemp paper. It is only recently that hemp farmers was put out of business. In fact Hemp farmers were encourged to grow it again during WWII. It is a link to our agricultural past the Corprorate Fascist want everyone to forget. This history is not taught in schools. Everyone should read "The Emperor Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herer.
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The_Alienist
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:11 p.m.Of course its an herb. An herb that contains THC, which alters the smokers consciousness. Sorry, that fits the definition of a drug.
And of course its not a gateway drug. Yes, many cocaine and heroin users started with marijuana. But there are many many more marijuana users that never try cocaine or heroin.
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m-simon
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:56 p.m.Pot is a drug:
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2006/04/ptsd-a
There are no gateway drugs because drugs do not cause addiction.
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2005/11/is-add
Addiction is caused by genetics and trauma. Stuff like child abuse.
Want to cut back on addiction? Fix the child abuse problem.
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mntnman444
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:09 p.m.Halco
Can you EVER stop twisting things??
The man you talk about was on CRACK not pot.And how do you know he didnt start with tobacco or alcohol?
Why dont you get educated...can you read?
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ConquerorWyrm
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:59 p.m.I suspect he started with 3 heaping spoonfuls of sugar on his sugar-powered cereal each morning as a kid...
Notice how I say I suspect, as opposed to declaring as if I knew that "He started with pot."
Heck, he probably started with religion and a sense of worthlessness (the falacy of original sin)crammed in his young, impressionable mind as a child...talk about addictive and dangerous influences!
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 10:51 p.m.In 1981,new president Reagan, tackled the issue of drugs by taking the first step of requesting that the top scientists in the country The National Academy of Sciences, review all studies to date and determine their validity.In a peport entitled Marijuana and Health,and An Analysis of Marijuana Policy.The report refuted the gateway drug theory and called for more study.This new study reaffirms that finding.The report also concluded that a policy of regulation (legalization) was the best way to deal with marijuana use.In 1982 Reagan declared his drug war and totally ignored the report that he requested.He even tried to stop the publication of the study.
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djn3nunez3
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:13 a.m.Nixon did the same thing. He commissioned a national study, then when its' findings didn't match his policy, he tried to discredit it. I'm sure the federally funded anti-drug orgaizations will repeat the same tire lies that the American public has accepted for years.
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jeffery1
Dec. 5, 2006, 9:53 a.m.This is what happens when facts get in the way of belief and ideology.
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ConquerorWyrm
Dec. 5, 2006, 3:01 p.m.nah, the potheads were too busy writing declarations of independance among other things...
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mntnman444
Dec. 4, 2006, 10:59 p.m.One of the govts main strategies is to put out disinformation and then just wait for someone to disprove it.But in the mean time they count on millions of people hearing it.
Most people probably believe that marijuana kills brain cells.
Heres another example of govt psuedoscience-
In a govt study,monkeys were put in a sealed chamber ,then marijuana smoke was pumped in until the monkeys died.When the autopsy was done they found dead brain cells,therefore,they publicly claimed that marijuana killed brain cells...the part they dont tell you is that ,first,there is no amount of marijuana that can kill a person,and the monkeys died of asphyxiation,and when that occurs...brain cells die.
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mntnman444
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:06 a.m.See DEA Judge Francis Young's 1988 ruling advising the rescheduling of marijuana.
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ameliog
Dec. 5, 2006, 11:33 a.m.Lots of things can cause death if consumed in extreme amounts. Too much water consumption at one time will kill you too. Thankfully the government hasn't classified it as a harmful drug.
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djn3nunez3
Dec. 5, 2006, 11:40 a.m.I think smoking 15 lbs of anything is one sitting will kill you. LOL
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ConquerorWyrm
Dec. 5, 2006, 3:02 p.m.getting hit on the head by a bale tossed from a low flying plane is another way that marijuana can kill
oh, those low flying planes...
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warandpeace
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:08 a.m.How many people that do meth do you think started out with pot....most of them
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inaroundabout
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:28 a.m.Saying that most people who do meth did pot first and saying that most people who do pot go on to do meth are completely different statements. No one is arguing that heavy drug users aren't more likely to be pot users as well. The point is that pot users aren't very likely to go on to heavier drugs.
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mntnman444
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:09 a.m.froggy
Good point.Consider the many claims made by our govt,yet in other countries where it has been used for thousans of years the claims just dont stand up.So I guess it's just an American thing.
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fundelectionspublicly
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:26 a.m.Ironic fact : Pot first became illegal in USA when states lobbied to make it illegal so they could arrest illegal mexicans under state law, since most mexicans, but hardly any americans, used Pot back then. Then as now, states had no authority to arrest someone just because they were illegals.
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jordan11
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:23 p.m.My experience tells me that the idea of mj being a gateway drug is pure horse s h i t....''
mine
too
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newsquew
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:57 a.m.Such reasoning may be applied to alcoholics who began by drinking soda pop. Then... are most (or all) soda pop drinkers doomed to alcoholism?
Diabetes, perhaps; alcoholism, I don't think so.
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djn3nunez3
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:15 a.m.Most of them tried alcohol or ciggerates as the first drug they ever tried not marijuana.
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Beau7890
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:32 a.m.How many people who do meth do you think started out with alcohol?
How many people who do meth do you think started out with baby food?
How many people who do meth do you think started out with oxygen?
The whole concept of a "gateway drug" is misconceived and meaningless.
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ConquerorWyrm
Dec. 5, 2006, 3:12 p.m.sugar first, then, oh then the meth...
I'm a pot head, never touched meth (coke, heroin, etc...)
I don't even take aspirin!
now, go tamp your little theory into a friendly bowl and touch it to flame...
thank you
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mntnman444
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:26 a.m.This link has practically every study ever done on the subject and Judge Young's findings.
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The18Zulu
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:37 a.m.I didnt ever think refer was a gateway drug, I usually saw it smoked in an upstairs bedroom, not in a gateway... ;)
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Allthere
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:46 a.m.The Feds should stop punishing those who smoke a classified vegatable!
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spectrum
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:48 a.m.In a political climate where the very basis of our freedom, the Bill of Rights, is now threatened I fear there will be no possibility for a change favoring any relaxation of existing drug laws. This is of course the status quo. Seventy years of prohibition will be extremely difficult to overturn. Sad for all.
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ScottMiller
Dec. 5, 2006, 10:01 a.m.Are you kidding? This last election, Nevada had on their ballot a proposition to legalize and regulate pot. While it failed by 4 points, it is significant that it did not fail by 50 points.
I live in a county in the conservative panhandle of Florida that has been dry since before prohibition. In the last thirty years they tried 6 times to make it wet. Apparently, the 7th time was the charm because last election the measure passed.
All I am saying is that while this seems to be a liberal issue, the conservatives are warming up to it as the population gets older and Gen X assumes more and more control over society.
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emckane
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:14 a.m."Marijuana is both emotionally and mentally addictive. Once an individual becomes addicted to marijuana it develops into part of who they believe themselves to be. Avoiding their friends who do not use, the addict will gravitate to others that do. Marijuana is a topic that is always on their mind, whether it be thinking about the next time they will be able to get high or where their going to get their next sack. When someone is addicted to marijuana eventually their friends and the people close to them only know how they act when their stoned because they no longer do anything without first smoking. Their constant abuse is due to the misconception that marijuana is what they need to solve their problems. Sometimes addicts will take their stash with them wherever they go, just in case an opportunity arises and they are able to take a couple hits. They may even go through several dealers."
To all you dopers this sounds like addiction to me.
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spectrum
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:46 a.m.I would not debate the possibility of any substance inducincing an addictive state. The problem as I see it is the the penalties meted out are far to severe and that the war on drugs is a expensive failure. One that the taxpayer can ill afford. I do not use this illegal drug or any other but I am quite sure that this behavior will never change or even modify. The time for finding a new approach has been at hand for a long time.
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jonmaverick
Dec. 5, 2006, 7:12 a.m.That's funny, it sounds like crap to me. Is that an official government quote?
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MacR
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:36 a.m.It is people like you that have been preaching this since it became illegal. What you fail to understand that there are no properties in MJ like you would find in Cigarettes or Alcohol. How about pulling your head out of your butt and do some research on it. Instead of spewing the same propaganda of 70 years.
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itsnotadrug
Dec. 5, 2006, 10:09 a.m.im sorry but hearing ignorance on such a grand scale as yours half ******es me off, half fills me with a sense of sadness that a member of the human race could be so stupid... the first time i took a hit off a J was over 10 years ago, and i have been a fairly frequent user since then, if that is not a long enough period of time to form an addiction then i dont know what is yet i can honestly say i have never once had the feeling of being addicted to marijuana,this is coming from someone who knows what an addiction feels like. i have been a steady smoker for over 10 years yet i get along just fine going any ammount of time without a smoke, whereas i can barely last 20 minutes with out a cigarette. i have no delusions that marijuana will solve my problems, ill admit it makes things more bearable but at the end of the day im the only one here to solve my problems, the only obligation i feel i have to smoke marijuana is a financial one, due to the fact that i bought it.
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jeffery1
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:35 p.m.Addiction is a complicated subject. Some people are addicts as you state but I know of none, and I most people I know have at least used it recreationally. Not all pot smokers are addicts just as not all drinkers are alcoholics.
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elrod
Dec. 5, 2006, 1:32 p.m.You are obviously regurgitating something you read and don't really know what you are talking about. I smoke but most of my freinds do not. If I don't have any, I don't give it a second thought. You are talking about a very small percentage of people that become obsessed and making it sound like all people who smoke are doomed to be slaves of pot. It sounds like you have watched Reefer Madness one too many times.
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crimsonsplendor
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:27 p.m.let's see. i smoke enough to be considered a 'pothead', yet i have many strong friendships with people who don't use. marijuana is a topic that's rarely on my mind, even while smoking it or going to pick some up. i'm more frequently not high than high.
i do have several connections though, and go where the quality / best deals currently are. and if i'm going out partying, or just randomly wandering around with no plans in mind, yes, i do usually bring one for the road.
i can't talk for all smokers, but i'd be willing to bet that most think along the same lines as i do.
to quote otto from the simpsons:
"I don't need pot to enjoy this, just enhance it"
well, it was something along those lines
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afrobizkit
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:44 p.m.Of course marijuana is addictive, but that's not what this article is about. Most anything can be addictive: food, sex, exercise, religion (opiate of the masses - Karl Marx). The article is about the fact that marijuana is not a "gateway" drug. The idea of a "gateway" to other drug use is just propaganda.
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ConquerorWyrm
Dec. 5, 2006, 5:33 p.m.May I ask where you got this quote from?
"Marijuana is both emotionally and mentally addictive...They may even go through several dealers."
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walden3
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:29 a.m.every heroin addict drank milk too. is milk the gateway beverage?
i think the folks in the whitehouse need to smoke something.
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el-jefe
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:40 a.m.Is it just me, or am I the only one who noticed that the story blurb on Netscape:
"Marijuana is not a "gateway" drug that predicts or eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of Pittsburgh study. Moreover, the study's findings call into question the long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental policy for six decades."
...Has nothing to do with the actual story? The story was about a study to see if alcohol and tobacco use led to marijuana use, thus confirming the "gateway theory" of drug abuse. The study found no significant difference between people who started with alcohol and tobacco and then moved on to marijuana, or people who started with marijuana and then picked up alcohol and tobacco.
The last paragraph in the story specifically mentioned that follow-up studies examining whether marijuana use led to harder drugs needed to be performed. The story has nothing to do with the headline!
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crimsonsplendor
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:44 p.m.there was a Canadian study just last year that proved that there was no evidence of marijuana being a 'gateway' drug.
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WeAreAllSoStupid
Dec. 5, 2006, 2:47 p.m.its not just you, that was the worst article ive ever read about one of the worst studies ive ever heard of. now im gonna go get high so i dont get so frustrated by all of this stupidity that I become an angry ******.
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Rubes
Dec. 5, 2006, 8:43 a.m.MJ doesn't kill of brain cells..... hmmm,,,,
It has do something!  The majority of "pot heads" that I have met (this does not mean all users of course) didn't seem to be the smartest kids anymore. Â
It seems that after they smoked too much there were a few loose screws in there.  I can't have an educated conversation with them anymore, it all revolved around "getting high mannnn, yeahhhh...." Â
Not to say that everybody is like this, of course, I'm sure that there are many successful people out there that do it, but I don't want my kids anywhere around that stuff.
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paradoxsee
Dec. 5, 2006, 9:42 a.m.Good point Rubes- as a long term head I know my "snappy responses" and motivation lessen as a direct correlation to the quantity of smoke (and quality), but this thank goodness is temporary. Too much is not cool, but relaxing at home with moderate amounts of beer and dope is my poison. Don't see any cumulative affect as yet of 35 years of occasional use, with intentional abstention of a month or longer to "dry out" from dope and alcohol.
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ameliog
Dec. 5, 2006, 11:49 a.m."I can't have an educated conversation with them anymore, it all revolved around "getting high mannnn, yeahhhh...."
I have a friend who was like that exactly! He even dealt it for awhile. He ended up a loser. Well, a loser with two engineering degrees and a very nice career. The other ones I knew in his circle of pot friends didn't fare as well. They only graduated with one degree apiece.
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BurnTheRules
Dec. 5, 2006, 12:26 p.m.It isn't that MJ kills brain cells, it is just that it relaxes you. "Pot heads" are both dumb and smart, depending on the user. If the person decides to just sit around and smoke, then they will seem dumber because they are not continuously growing mentally, but at the same time the are lazy, dumb people like this that aren't users. It is entirely possible to smoke as well as be educated, it is just the matter of getting out into society and learning things.
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