Is Marijuana a gateway drug?

[Shaggy]

Do you think weed is a gate way to the other hardcore drugs out there? I think it all depends on the user and not the drug itself. I smoked quite a few times in high school and college and here I am not addicted to anything. So like I said, I think it all depends on the user, not on marijuana.

What do you think?

[theholycow]

I agree, mostly. If the user was or was not likely to try other illegal drugs, marijuana wouldn't change that. Some may start with it, but if it wasn't there they'd still start, just with something else.

Having to buy marijuana on the same black market as other illegal drugs can potentially put people in contact with dealers or even pushers that market the other drugs. So, it may have a small opportunistic gateway effect on people who aren't squarely on the "would" or "would not" side of trying other drugs.

[stonehenge]

I've tried it a few times and if it were legal I would most likely do it every now and then but I could never imagine injecting shit into my blood, taking pills, or smoking something that comes in a rock/black ball/crystals/whatever. When I hear "drugs" i think of all that nasty shit, weed doesn't even come to mind