Studies show ‘gateway drug’ is not marijuana, but alcohol.

Researchers have discredited the theory of marijuana being a ‘gateway drug’.

Results from the Guttman scale indicate that alcohol acts as a gateway drug, leading to the use of tobacco, marijuana and other illicit substances.

Furthermore, students who used alcohol ‘exhibited a significantly greater likelihood of using both licit and illicit drugs’.

In an interview, health behaviour social scientist, Adam E Barry said his studies aimed at correcting some of the propaganda that had influenced Western culture mindset and reasoning since the ‘reefer madness’ era.

“Some of these earlier iterations needed to be fleshed out, that’s why we wanted to study this. The latest form of the gateway theory is that it begins with cannabis and moves on finally to what laypeople often call ‘harder drugs’.

As you can see from the findings of our study, it confirmed this gateway hypothesis, but it follows progression from licit substances, specifically alcohol and moves on to illicit substances,” said Barry.

These findings go hand-in-hand with a 2012 study which found alcohol and cigarettes were much more likely than marijuana to precede the abuse of opiate drugs and their mind-altering effects.

By comparing substance abuse rates between drinkers and non-drinkers, researchers found pupils in high school who had consumed alcohol at least once in their lives ‘were 13 times more likely to use cigarettes, 16 times more likely to use marijuana and other narcotics and 13 times more likely to use cocaine’.

In the sample of students, alcohol also represented the most commonly used substance, with 72.2% of students reporting alcohol consumption at some point in their lifetime. Comparatively, 45% of students reported using tobacco, and 43.3% cited marijuana use.

“The findings from this investigation support that alcohol should receive primary attention in school-based substance abuse prevention programming, as the use of other substances could be impacted by delaying or preventing alcohol use. Therefore, it seems prudent for school and public health officials to focus prevention efforts, policies and monies on addressing adolescent alcohol use,” the Michigan-based study concluded.

Scientists had earlier discovered that cannabis, a therapeutic healing herb, may actually reduce brain damage caused by alcohol. A 2013 study concluded that a chemical in marijuana called cannabidiol could be used to treat alcohol-induced neuro-degeneration.

 

Results of a 2013 study from the University of Kentucky and the University of Maryland, led to the conclusion that ‘illegal’ marijuana is by far the safest ‘legal’ drug. Based on the findings, the researchers agreed that weed is 114 times less deadly than alcohol.

Nowadays, we often overlook the dangers of alcohol, a substance available to most who desire it, anywhere, at an affordable price.

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