Why is pot always blamed for being the gateway drug???

[backtoblue]

I started drinking alcohol way before I tried any other substance. Pot gets a bad wrap when IMHO, booze is the substance that is more likely to lead to the abuse of all other substances.

[Mz Pip]

1. Because booze is legal

and probably has plenty of highly paid lobbyists making sure pot stays illegal and booze gets a pass as far as leading to other drug usage.

I agree with you. I would suspect that most teens start with alcohol and then try other things.

That said I'm not sure I even buy into the idea that there is a 'gateway' drug. One does not necessarily lead to another. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to learn that most people who smoke pot never move on to other drugs.

[tridim]

4. Boose AND cigarettes. nt

[HillbillyBob]

2. It is almost pathalogical the way pot is blamed

When it was the medicine /drug of choice before pharma became a player in our government, also there is racism involved. I read some of the old paper clippings calling for the outlawing of mj many saying that Blacks smoked it then went to rape white wimins!

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. Because its where most illegal drug users start..vice mainlining H

Then again, they also all went to elementary school, drink water, and probably ate carrots at some point in their lives too.

There may well be a correlation, but its not causality

[Democracyinkind]

6. It's because the "illegal" starts there. If Nicotine, Caffeine and alcohol were illegal they would

be the number one "gateway drug" ... maybe then people would get how stupid the notion of a gateway drug is.

I've never taken heroin or all that shit and I think I smoked my first joint with 13 or so and became a regular user in my early 20's. No other drugs here. No alcohol. Nothing. According to studies done in Europe, I am the norm, and the guy who ended up shooting heroin is the exception.

CUT THE BULLSHIT!

I think we are finally getting there!

[tridim]

5. I think because it's the only plant on Earth that contains Satan's DNA.

[HubertHeaver]

7. Pot keeps bad company. By necessity it travels with the other underground

drugs.

[backtoblue]

9. yes, that's true

but I still believe that alcohol (and cigs) are the true "gateways" into substance abuse because they are easy to get from a very early age. Then the cycle can begin (if one chooses to) and lead to the hardcore addictions of meth and pharmaceuticals.

[Mythsaje]

26. First, is sugar...

You ever see a tween with a dozen pixie sticks? I've seen calmer meth addicts.

[backtoblue]

27. I've seen a tween

snort a pixie stick!!! Absolutely frightening.

Seriously, though, whatever the "gateway" into the world of addiction is I think pot takes a bad wrap when compared to the effects of other substances.

Sugar, caffeine, aspartame, etc. are the first additives we are subjected to. I wonder if there is any evidence showing how these additives might somehow "condition" someone to be more susceptible to addiction.

[ember dawn]

39. I agree comletely eom

[madrchsod]

15. if we could legally grow our own

then we would`t have to put up with junkies,crack and coke heads.....

[backtoblue]

19. : )

:applause:

[bob4460]

8. Because of the lies

We are lied to as kids, everyone saying that pot is so bad for you then when you try it and see it is really not bad for you,you have to try the other drugs to see if you have been lied to about them all!!!

[ember dawn]

40. Try this

I was up front and honest with my kids and tried to show them how it hindered my life. And they saw it first hand by how I couldn't buy them all their wants because I was making sure I paid the bills first and then making sure I had my smoke. And even though they saw how w struggled they have still followed in my tracks. How can I make them change their ways?

[groovedaddy]

10. 420: Thoughts on Pot vs. Alcohol from a Former Police Chief

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/420-thoughts-on-pot-vs-al_b_188627.html

[backtoblue]

12. thanks for the link!

"Hundreds of alcohol overdose deaths occur annually. There has never been a single recorded marijuana OD fatality."


I work in a field where I see overdoses on a regular basis and I,too, have never seen Marijuana useage listed as a cause of death. The real war should be against Meth and wrongful use of pain meds ("slammin"). Those are the most frequent instances of overdoses. (in my area, anyways)

[groovedaddy]

21. your're welcome! gd n.t

[kestrel91316]

11. Beats hell out of me. That old saw is just a crock of BS.

If you're gonna abuse drugs, it doesn't take any particular drug to cause the addiction - any psychoactive substance will do.

The anti-hemp lobby has been very successful in eliminating that useful crop from our agricultur

[zbdent]

13. I always believe that tobacco is the gateway drug to marijuana ...

I'm pretty sure that most kids didn't start with a joint ... how did they get so good at inhaling?

[madrchsod]

14. cigarettes,booze, pot....

now i do`t smoke cigs ,drink,and can`t smoke pot till i get my medical problems fixed.

[backtoblue]

17. Wish you well

:pals:

[bamacrat]

16. Because its illegal.

Tobacco and alcohol are the true gateway drugs. Did both way before I ever smoked weed. I would say alcohol more than tobacco though just because it actually alters you conciousness, making you wonder what else is out there that can make you feel good.

[99th_Monkey]

18. Because Pot is historically associated with GRASS-roots rebellions - see the 60s. ~nt~

[backtoblue]

20. Ah, I see that side...

Free-thinking and free-speaking people of the sixties were "put in their place" for their rebellious ways by taking away their rights.

The government had to do something to keep the sheep in order, reminding them who owned them.


Government punishment is prohibition and imprisonment. n/t

[groovedaddy]

22. War on Drugs = one giant leap for fascism in the U.S. n.t

[droidamus2]

23. No such thing

If by 'gateway' people mean that there is something innate in the chemistry of pot that makes people want to try harder drugs after they have tried pot I think that is ridiculous on its face. The only way pot could be considered any type of 'gateway' is in the fact that many peoples first introduction to the illegal drug market is through the purchase and use of pot. Since this very likely puts them in contact with people that also sell other drugs their level of opportunity to do these other drugs goes up. So it is not something 'in' marijuana but the illegality and availability that could make it possible for people to try harder drugs.

[Virgil Cain]

29. And we have a winner!!!

It's the method in which weed is obtained. If weed were available through normal outlets like cigarettes and alcohol, smokers contact with illegal markets and many of the other harder drugs associated with that market would be greatly reduced.

[CT Bucky]

30. You have the correct answer sir! But I hope I can put it into perspective for everyone.

That is absolutely right, I will take this into prospective. This is the "Gateway Theory" as it should be defined: You walk into McDonald's for a simple small fry. McDonald's wants your money, so while your in there the cashier offer's you a larger fry, you accept, then she suggests you buy a soda, okay your probably going to need a drink so you order a large soda as well. Then you think about it you might as well order a sandwich and make it a combo deal.

The "Gateway Drug" in this situation was the small fry. You walked in with the intent of a small fry, but ended up walking out with a whole meal.

The drug world isn't much different. Drug dealers will commonly carry "other drugs" and they will offer them to you if you are looking for something as small as Cannabis (Marijuana.) The problem is not cannabis. Since it is not addictive, the drug dealers will often try to push harder drugs, ones that are more addictive. This is how drug dealers get people hooked on harder drugs.

So you see the problem is not in cannabis, the problem is the drug dealer. Now I ask you, how can you remove the drug dealer? You may think locking them up, the only problem is the business is constantly growing. There's big money in the drug market and it constantly has openings.

So this is what needs to be done, this might upset a lot of users here but it is the horrible truth, I do not know your view's I'm new here. I am here to explain and educate.

We need to end this failed war on drugs once and for all, there needs to be a nation wide legalization, regulation and taxation of all abusable drugs. Not just Cannabis. It is the truth. It might be hard for people to accept, but as I share my views I hope you can understand.

The only way that the drug black market can be destroyed is to undercut the drug black market, true I did get this opinion from an Honorable Judge from California, it comes with the valid truth. I have done the research why.

So I ask everybody, do not only support cannabis. Support the end of the entire 'War on Drugs.'

[wildbilln864]

43. agreed 100%! nt

[Stump]

24. The day I can legally smoke...

will be the day I quit drinking.

[Taitertots]

25. Caffeine is the gateway drug

Pump children full of high fructose corn syrup and caffeine to get their brains used to addiction response.

Isn't it troubling to anyone that the majority of beverages are full of highly addictive stimulants? That these stimulant laden addictive beverages are marketed to children and sold in schools. The soda companies are just drug dealers getting everyone addicted to caffeine.

Marijuana gets blamed because caffeine and alcohol are legal. They have media control through money for advertising. Pot is just the fall guy, because it is the significant threat to their profits.

[flyboyscotty68]

28. booze has lobbiest. We don't

[jmowreader]

31. Because if they called Marlboros the gateway drug, Jesse Helms would have shit

This is an interesting study..

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1FB4AA.htm

In 1964, a cohort of 581 heroin addicts was first interviewed, then followed for 33 years.

In 1997, 242 of these people were still alive. Of the 284 confirmed deaths, 21.6 percent died of overdose, 15.2 percent of chronic liver disease, 11.7 percent of cancer, 11.7 percent died of cardiovascular diseases, and 19.5 died violently--homicide, suicide or accident. Three of them died of AIDS.

Now here's where the shit gets entertaining: Of the 242 survivors, 20.7 percent tested positive for opiates--BUT 66.9 PERCENT REPORTED CURRENT TOBACCO USE!

In http://news.scotsman.com/drugspolicy/How-cannabis-led-my-boy.3275065.jp (the sordid tale of a young man who was lured into heroin addiction by weed), you will find this statement: "I was already smoking by then so I thought, 'why not?'"

[CT Bucky]

32. Re: Because if they called Marlboros the gateway drug, Jesse Helms would have shit

Just another reason that we need to end this failed "War on Drugs"

[jmowreader]

33. Is it okay if we just retrench a bit?

Declare our victory over weed by bringing it into the arena of licit substances, but continue the battle against meth?

Now here's what I can't figure out about meth: There are seven ingredients in the "red, white and blue" meth process--of those, six have NO controls on them whatsoever. Maybe that needs to change? Like some 16-year-old kid walks into Home Fucking Depot and buys ten gallons of muriatic acid, you know what the fuck he's going to do with it (this happened to me) but what the hell are you going to do? The Fayettenam cops didn't even care, and yes I called them. Oh what a fucking conversation THAT was!

"Hello police? There is a teenager buying 10 gallons of hydrochloric acid and a shitload of methanol. Could you send someone by to talk to him?"
'Why would we want to do that?'
"Because teenagers don't normally buy industrial chemicals, and methanol and hydrochloric acid are meth precursors."
'How do YOU know what's used to make meth?'

That's not the worst one: One of my customers had his car stolen. He reported it. About a week later the customer was at a convenience store and someone pulled up in his car. Customer called the police to ask them to send someone down there (the convenience store was just a few blocks from the sheriff's office) to arrest that guy. Cops asked if my customer had insurance. "Yes." 'Then why are you concerned? Let them take care of it.' (My customer stole his car back.) Yes, we ARE protected by the Keystone Kops in this town...

[CT Bucky]

34. Re: Is it okay if we just retrench a bit?

The problem is the the war on drugs has failed, it has nothing to do with WHAT they are.

And the problem is this, by continuing to apply the effort to prohibit drug use you are doing two things.

1) Your spending tax money to arrest, prosecute and convict people that most of the time only posses drugs. This is costing billions of dollars.

2) Your feeding and funding the existence of a drug underworld.

You talk about manufactured meth. I think this is another result of the 'War on Drugs' as well as crack cocaine. Because of the prohibition it caused people to attempt to figure out how to manufacture or extend the life of the drugs the want to deal.

I would be sure that if the prohibition was repealed it would bring usage of these type of drugs to a halt.

I believe that you are correct though. What are law enforcement doing? Are they not here to serve and protect. Like I said, they are here to arrest, prosecute and convict. If there are law enforcement that utilize this forum I would like your input as well.

If the system worked the way it should even if the officer sent to the scene didn't make an arrest because he didn't have cause, educating the individual would have been a supportable cause.

-Bucky-

[jmowreader]

35. I'm not sure what you're saying here

Are you honestly saying that if we legalized crack cocaine and methamphetamine, people would stop using them? Or that all the problems caused by crack and meth are JUST because they're illegal? I think if we legalized crack and meth, we'd have at least as much use--probably more in the case of meth, since it's REALLY addictive. I also think the drug-problem environment would look like an amplified version of the current alcohol situation--not because of the battery acid and gasoline in it, but because of the meth itself. Alcohol creates more business for the law enforcement community than any other substance; meth and crack make you even stupider and more violent.

Pot is not meth. We know that. Pot is not crack. Pot is a relatively benign substance--certainly not harmless but far less harmful than alcohol. Meth and crack, by their very natures, are very harmful.

Now understand, there was a lot of racism surrounding the bans on opium and coca--cocaine was supposed to improve black men's pistol marksmanship and force them to rape white women, and opium was supposed to cause white women to cohabitate with Chinese men. The 1903 Committee on the Acquirement of the Drug Habit said, "if the Chinaman cannot get along without his dope we can get along without him." Unfortunately for these old ladies, opium wasn't restricted to minorities--one-quarter percent of all Americans were opium eaters. It was in most patent medicines. One famous preparation of opium was sold by Sears--the "White Star Secret Liquor Cure." Of this, the Sears Catalog claimed it would cure drunkards without their knowledge. (In "The Road to Wellville" it was inaccurately described as a tincture--Eleanor Lightbody was supposedly putting five drops of the Liquor Cure in Will's coffee. That's how you administered it, but it came as a powder in little pouches.) But I think the Harrison Narcotic Tax Act did the right thing for the wrong reason--opium and cocaine addictions are bad, m'kay?

Legalize pot because pot won't cause the end of the world. Keep meth, cocaine and opiates illegal because they're more deadly than alcohol by a LONG shot.

[CT Bucky]

36. You all are missing the big picture.

Recently all the information in the past 100 years has come together for me, I see a summary of our government in a nut shell, you all view these laws as just even though I bet not one of you can contest the constitutional legality of any of them. Everything that was created in the first place to cause the prohibition was lobbyists trying to predict crimes before they happened, so they could create laws that benefit them, the federal government is openly violating the constitution everyday by forcing people to give up there rights, in an interest to make sure they do not suffer because of laws that are unconstitutional in the first place.

Why is Cannabis Sativa illegal, because it is not in the interest of so many "Big Corporations" the ones who are puppet-masters to our federal politics. Everyday more and more unjust laws are passed. People need to get off the federal government and get back to the constitution or your going to find yourself homeless before to long. The government economy is supposed to be a reflection of our people, well according to that we are an unfathomable number in debt. All because big business lobbyists are using our federal government to line their pockets.

The "War on Drugs" is one of these unjust issues. Epically with cannabis. Hemp is one of the biggest things this country was founded on I believe. Prior to the prohibition, in the early industrial period, hemp processing machines were being patented. Hemp is an easy renewable source, if it wasn't we would have been able to succeed in this cannabis prohibition. But it was in the interest of a lobbyist, that owned lots of timberland, to have it prohibited so his trees could be used in the manufacturing of paper and he could have a monopoly over the paper industry. Dose that sound like a just way for a law to pass?

Just think about it, what was the Constitution and most other founding documents printed on? HEMP PAPER!!!!!!!!!

I want to bring this message out, but this Free Speech restricted forum will not let me start a new topic until I have a reputable amount of replies which I find ridiculous.

[JonLP24]

37. The way I feel about this

is there are a lot of law enforcement resources used to fight this war on drugs battle when they can be used for real crimes such as robbery, etc. It also drives a business that's always going to be around underground which causes a lot of the related violence. For example what do you do if someone takes your money and run, or shorts you, or give you a fake substance? You can't resolve those issues with lawsuits or police because you get in trouble as well so a lot of these issues are resolved through violence.

My proposal is to let it all be legal, find ways to increase sentences for various crimes that are committed under the influence of whatever drug, public intoxication, and limit their availability for those that did. It would be much harder to get when you take them out of the hands of the dealer. In my experience those who kicked the stuff didn't do so because it was illegal.

[creeker]

38. in the beginning the gov used the "negro revolt" to make

weed undesirable Henry Ansilinger (spelling ?) was appointed to narco czar---------he needed to make a career for himself so he had to have something to fight--- the race card plus weed made for a crusade----------after all -----aren't all black Jazz artists "hop heads?"

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. 
[link:www.democraticunderground.com/forums/rules.html|Click
here] to review the message board rules.

[wildbilln864]

42. because pot would kill all their massive profits...

if it became legal IMO. Therefore they have to make shit up to keep it demonized.