Marijuana is Not a Gateway Drug
At least not in the traditional sense. The legalization effort has pushed to decouple the term from marijuana, but perhaps they should embrace it. In a way, the gateway notion is accurate, in that consuming marijuana opens the proverbial door (or in this case gate) to many other things one wouldn’t have thought of before.
The “doors” or in this case “gates” that marijuana opens aren’t all bad. Certainly, some of them are, but not all. For example, marijuana can serve as a replacement addiction to harder drugs. The idea of replacement addictions is generally frowned upon in medical circles, however many can agree that being a daily smoker is far better than being a prescription pill addict. These days, more and more people are getting their introduction to the world of drugs via the doctor, and turning to harder substances after their prescription runs out.
Some may argue that prescription drugs are available from street dealers. This is true. However, prescriptions drugs cost more than illegal alternatives that provide the same type of high. In addition to cost, oftentimes prescription drugs sold on the street are not actually what they claim to be. It is possible for anybody with the money to purchase a press on the internet and press their own counterfeit pills. These pills can be pressed to resemble oxycontin and xanax, but instead contain fentanyl. This can be seen on ecstacydata.org, a website that allows users to send samples of substances for testing to find what is actually inside of them. The website is focused on pills sold as MDMA (also referred to as “ecstasy” and “Molly” among other terms), but allows for testing of other substances. At the time of writing, the second substance listed under the site’s “not sold as ecstasy” category was sold as Oxycodone but was found to be Fentanyl.
For these milder cases of addiction, before progressing to use street drugs or “pharmaceuticals” sold on the street, it can be beneficial to use a replacement, in this case marijuana. The addictivity of marijuana is significantly less than that of oxycontin or any of the other array of opioid pain prescriptions. Yet, with a mild addiction, this is a way to combat withdrawal symptoms and trade a hard drug with a softer one. After withdrawals are over, it is far easier to transition away from marijuana than it would be from an opioid. In cases of addiction such as this, that opioid can wind up being fentanyl or heroin.
A 2013 study concluded that marijuana use correlated with decreased withdrawal symptoms in opioid addicts. It also noted that frequent marijuana users often spent less money on opioids. However, the study did not find correlation between marijuana use and cessation of opioid use. The study also references multiple animal studies that conclude similarly about the effects of marijuana on withdrawal symptoms. This suggests that marijuana alone is not an effective method to quitting opioids, but could be an effective part of a solution.
Another study, this one in 2009, concluded that intermittent marijuana users were able to continue opioid addiction treatment more often than both heavy and nonusers. It was a replication of another study that found the same results.
In cases of as-prescribed opiate use, marijuana can function as a gateway, but a gateway away from addictive pharmaceuticals. In theory, with use of opioids primarily tied to pain relief rather than a desire for a psychoactive experience, marijuana could increase ability to become sober after forming an addiction. Marijuana has pain relief properties of its own that may additionally aid the transition.
A more ambiguous version of marijuana being a gateway drug is when it is the first drug a user consumes. After smoking, the user may think to themself, “well that wasn’t that bad” or other thoughts to that effect. Upon contrasting their personal experience with what they were taught in school, the user begins to question everything they were taught. This can lead a couple different directions.
The first direction this questioning can lead is that of heavy drug use. Obviously, this is not a desirable outcome. The questioning, in this case, leads to a disbelief in all teachings and a belief that nothing was as bad as the user once thought, which in turn made using hard substances an easier choice to make. People with this mindset can easily become addicts of substances like heroin and cocaine. This is the typical notion of marijuana as a gateway drug.
The possibility of marijuana leading to other more harmful drugs, of course, causes concern. That is why marijuana remains illegal, even now that a large segment of the public perceives marijuana as less harmful than alcohol or other drugs. This begs the question: would more honest drug education help combat progression from marijuana to more harmful drugs?
It is difficult to tell, as it hasn’t been tried in the United States. The answer is likely a yes, however.
The second direction questioning teachings can lead is that of research and critical thinking. After a user finds out that they were misinformed, they may seek out more accurate information. There are many sources available online that provide accurate, often scientific research about psychoactive substances and their effects on the human brain. An example of such a source is The Erowid Project.
Research will lead the user to the realization that, while biased and stigmatized, their teachings were not fully inaccurate. Opiates are dangerous and highly addictive. As are many other hard drugs. With statistics and research behind them, marijuana users can make the informed decision not to continue to use harder drugs.
One reason marijuana users begin taking up harder drugs is tolerance, the body’s natural build up of resistance to the effects of the drug. Tolerance begins building after the first use and it begins to require more marijuana to feel the same way one originally felt after using less. Eventually, the amount of consumption required to have the desired experience becomes impractical. At this point, the user transitions to another drug.
However, with research, one can find methods to combat the build up of tolerance. The most common method is something referred to as a “tolerance break” or “T-break” for short. As the name implies, one abstains or lowers usage for a period of time, typically one month, before resuming use at lower quantities. Anecdotally, this is an effective method to continue experiencing marijuana in the desired manor. A 2016 study concluded that tolerance rapidly declines after ceasing use, starting two days after the last use. Tolerance decline stopped after four weeks without a full reduction. In discussion, the study noted that sample size and potential measurement errors may have played a role in the incomplete elimination of tolerance.
Some believe that this direction of research and thought is the reason marijuana was outlawed in the first place. Richard Nixon’s domestic affairs advisor, John Ehrlichman, infamously stated in a 1994 interview with Dan Baum, published later in Harper’s Magazine “[...] the Nixon White House [had] two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. [...] We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” With statements like that made by advisors involved in the process of making the drug illegal, it is difficult not to reach the same conclusion.
Of course, legalization would not stop use of hard drugs outright. Neither would honest drug education. There are people who use drugs as an escape from realities that they find unbearable. People like this may not find the escape they desired in marijuana, and may progress to harsher substances, even with knowledge of the consequences. For these people the need to escape exceeds the need for safety. In terms of drug education and/or legalization, there isn’t a lot we can do for these people. They will use regardless of legality and only sober up when they decide it is time or when physically forced to (for example, in prison).
When people in these circumstances decide to end their addiction it is important to be there for them. They should have an array of options at their disposal so that they can achieve sobriety. However, active attempts to force people to cease use of drugs has proven to be fruitless. People will only stop when they decide it’s right, not when somebody else tells them it’s right. We can only hope to educate people honestly, so that they know what they are getting into.
What do you think? Am I nuts? Did I overlook something? Agree or disagree, I'd love to hear what you think in the comments, my only request is to maintain a sense of civility.
Update 1:07 pm PST 4/20/2018: Header image added, footer statement added. Content of article remains unchanged.