Marijuana really is a gateway drug

[honeyny22]

First off I have been sober for almost 5 months but I haven't used weed since June 19th, 2009, I started off smoking to relax because I have severe anixety/panic attacks and it was the only thing I found that would calm me down, but then it led to coke, and then crack and then X and finally I ended up losing custody of my child, I got fed up, quit and didn't look back.

anyone that tells you it's JUST weed and you believe them, you're fooling yourself, trust me.

 

[Victorium]

Good on you! Staying sober and sane is the only way to go through life. I hope you have dealt with your original problems of anxiety and panic attacks?

 

[freezerman2000]

That's funny, I smoked and ate marijuana for over 20 years and never had the cravings for anything stronger...It's all a matter of won't power.
Stay sober, my friend..I've been that way for five years now, the same length of time free from nicotine, too.

 

[onelove145]

Allow me to disprove that.

You eat a turkey leg. After eating the turkey leg you're still hungry, so you eat a banana cream pie full of razors and die.

Was it the turkey leg's fault you ate the pie or yours?

And that's technically saying that alcoholics start on milk. alcohol should be a gateway drug if that THEORY was even true.

 

[Victorium]

Allow me to disprove that.

You eat a turkey leg. After eating the turkey leg you're still hungry, so you eat a banana cream pie full of razors and die.

Was it the turkey leg's fault you ate the pie or yours?

And that's technically saying that alcoholics start on milk. alcohol should be a gateway drug if that THEORY was even true.

Not so. Alcoholics develop a "Reverse Tolerance" to alcohol and therefore do not need to move onto harder drugs whereas a dependent marijuana user can form a tolerance and require harder or more potent drugs to achieve the high - and many do. Some will use it in conjunction with alcohol to supplement their stone and therefore not rely on hard drugs.

Your analogy is poor because turkey leg does not alter the brain chemicals like marijuana does and form a dependency to the point that you are going to eat pies full of razors and besides marijuana users who turn to harder drugs generally don't do it overnight, it usually starts with experimentation and it could be many years before they are eating pies full of razors.


Alcohol Tolerance: Alcohol tolerance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[onelove145]

Lol there's no such thing as reverse tolerance. Alcohol is a drug, you clearly don't understand the reason you view weed as a gateway drug is because it is classified as a drug. If you grew up hearing alcohol being called an illegal narcotic, you would think the "gateway effect" (disproven many times I might add) would be a side effect of the alcohol.

 

[freezerman2000]

Not so. Alcoholics develop a "Reverse Tolerance" to alcohol and therefore do not need to move onto harder drugs whereas a dependent marijuana user can form a tolerance and require harder or more potent drugs to achieve the high - and many do. Some will use it in conjunction with alcohol to supplement their stone and therefore not rely on hard drugs.

Your analogy is poor because turkey leg does not alter the brain chemicals like marijuana does and form a dependency to the point that you are going to eat pies full of razors and besides marijuana users who turn to harder drugs generally don't do it overnight, it usually starts with experimentation and it could be many years before they are eating pies full of razors.


Alcohol Tolerance: Alcohol tolerance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not all people like who smoke such as honeyny22 develop cravings for harder drugs...not all smokers turn into, in some cases,hopeless addicts.22, I am not saying that you were a hopeless addict by any means,because you were able to overcome your personal demons, but it is unfair to folks like me that did not develop cravings or addictions for the harder drugs...I know quite a few folks who have smoked and/or eaten weed for years without turning into "dope fiends".
If I am offered a bowl at a special occasion and the atmosphere is conductive to a mellow buzz, I will accept, but that is a rare occasion. I can take it or leave it. I do not allow it to control my life, I control it.

 

[TemperateSeaIsland]

I found it more to do with your dealer than weed. I knew people who smoked weed and got it from people who dealt exclusively in weed and they didnt get into anything harder. people who got it from dealers who dealt in weed and other things like Heroin tend to end up using harder drugs.

 

[Victorium]

Not all people like who smoke such as honeyny22 develop cravings for harder drugs...not all smokers turn into, in some cases,hopeless addicts.22, I am not saying that you were a hopeless addict by any means,because you were able to overcome your personal demons, but it is unfair to folks like me that did not develop cravings or addictions for the harder drugs...I know quite a few folks who have smoked and/or eaten weed for years without turning into "dope fiends".
If I am offered a bowl at a special occasion and the atmosphere is conductive to a mellow buzz, I will accept, but that is a rare occasion. I can take it or leave it. I do not allow it to control my life, I control it.

I didn't say all weed smokers turn to harder stuff. I'm saying the dependent user have a tendency to turn to harder drugs to achieve their high and if they don't they will use alcohol to supplement their stone. Just like you can get a responsible drinker and an alcoholic. I didn't get this from research, but from observing weed smokers including myself over years.

 

[freezerman2000]

I didn't say all weed smokers turn to harder stuff. I'm saying the dependent user have a tendency to turn to harder drugs to achieve their high and if they don't they will use alcohol to supplement their stone. Just like you can get a responsible drinker and an alcoholic. I didn't get this from research, but from observing weed smokers including myself over years.

What I said was kind of in conjunction with what you said, plus a rebuttal of 22's statement that weed is always a "gateway" drug, which it isn't.

 

[Victorium]

Lol there's no such thing as reverse tolerance. Alcohol is a drug, you clearly don't understand the reason you view weed as a gateway drug is because it is classified as a drug. If you grew up hearing alcohol being called an illegal narcotic, you would think the "gateway effect" (disproven many times I might add) would be a side effect of the alcohol.

OK, your right, reverse tolerance is a little vague and a poor premise. It's something I read and it made sense. Here's what it said:

Reverse Tolerance occurs when a heavy drinker develops liver damage and the liver no longer produces as great a quantity of the enzymes needed to break down alcohol in the body as it did before. Since people with a lot of alcoholic liver damage can no longer metabolize alcohol very well, these people can get very intoxicated on small quantities of
alcohol--much smaller quantities than are needed to affect the person who rarely drinks. This phenomenon is known as Reverse Tolerance.

But I still believe a dependent marijuana user - "dependent" being the operative word here - can move onto harder drugs and if they don't move onto harder drugs they will use alcohol to supplement their stone. This is based on observation rather that research and I have seen it happen many times! I also know plenty of people that smoke only weed, but even many of them are "not the full quid" if you know what I mean?

 

[Victorium]

What I said was kind of in conjunction with what you said, plus a rebuttal of 22's statement that weed is always a "gateway" drug, which it isn't.

Sorry mate, must be my past catching up with me!

 

[Lillen]

To defend the liberal side, the only reason it is a gateway drug is because of its illegal classification. You are brought down by the subculture dealing illegal drugs, and with illegal drugs marijuana is included!

Then again, I could argue that snorting tobacco should be classifed as an illegal drug, even though I usually do not feel a rush on tobacco.

The problem with drugs is if it is linked to idoltary. Illegal drugs fosters idoltary... and causes your mind to open up your senses to the occult part of the spiritual world.