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Let's apply a little elementary science and settle the silly old urban legend called the marijuana gateway effect--forever.
First, let's review what we know. There is no drug that, when taken, will give you a craving for a completely unrelated drug you have never had. That's the stuff of magic, not science.
It is not often the case with urban legends that we are lucky enough to know exactly when and where they arose but, in this instance we do know. In fact, we know when it arose, how it arose, and the person who made it up. The short history is as follows:
In 1910, "experts" believed that the certain stepping stone to opiate addiction was "eating Mexicanised food". The idea, which comes from America's puritanical past, is that pleasure is sinful, and small pleasures lead to cravings for larger pleasures. In this example, those who crave spicy food will inevitably crave larger pleasures, such as opium. See "Themes in Chemical Prohibition", the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Conference Report from 1979 at [линк]
In the 1920s, some states outlawed marijuana because of the belief that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana--the exact opposite of the modern myth. See "History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the US" by Professor Charles Whitebread at [линк]
In 1937, Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, testified before Congress for the Marihuana Tax Act, which outlawed marijuana at the national level in the US. During his testimony, he was asked specifically if there was any connection between marijuana and heroin. He replied that there was no connection at all. See the full text of Anslinger's testimony at [линк]
In 1944, the LaGuardia Committee Report on Marihuana confirmed Anslinger's statement: that there was no connection at all between marijuana and heroin. See "The Mental Attitude of the Marihuana Smoker Toward Society and Marihuana" from the committee's report at [линк]
In 1951, the Boggs Act was proposed to toughen penalties on drugs. Harry Anslinger again testified about the need for tougher drug laws, and more agents and money to enforce them. Unfortunately for Anslinger, just before he testified, the head of the US federal addiction research programme testified that they knew for sure that all of the reasons that had been given to outlaw marijuana in 1937 were completely false. In short, he said there was no justification for the marijuana laws at all because it had none of the ill effects that Anslinger and his associates had alleged.
Anslinger had the rug pulled out from under him. He was left with no justification for his call for more money and agents to enforce the marijuana laws. In desperation, he came up with the idea that marijuana was the certain stepping stone to heroin. In so testifying, he directly contradicted his own testimony for the Marihuana Tax Act 14 years earlier. There wasn't any evidence to support the idea then, and there hasn't been any since. See Chapter VI, "The 1950's: Harsher Penalties and a New Rationale--The Stepping-Stone Theory" from "The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An inquiry into the legal history of marijuana prohibition" at [линк]
Over the decades, there have been numerous major studies of the drug laws and the supposed facts behind them. Many of these studies included examination of the gateway myth, and they all found that there was no serious research to support it. See "Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy" at [линк]
So what evidence is there for the idea? The myth rests on the assumption that because most heroin addicts used marijuana before they used heroin, then marijuana must have been the cause of them using heroin. This is the logical fallacy of "post hoc ergo propter hoc"--the belief that because one event preceded another event, the second event must have been caused by the first. Don't try that argument in any logic or philosophy class because you will surely fail the class.
What association there is between marijuana users and heroin users can be explained by a few simple truths. The first is that, if you can find someone who is silly enough to put a needle full of black-market heroin in their arm, then you have probably found someone who has done every other silly thing they could think of--marijuana just being one more item on a long list. As psychologists will tell you, people who engage in one risky behaviour are likely to engage in other risky behaviours.
The second truth is that the current policy puts the sale of both drugs in the hands of organised crime. Therefore, people who come into contact with marijuana vendors are more likely to come into contact with heroin vendors.
The third truth is that the US Government has been blatantly lying about drugs for the last several decades, in order to support certain governmental and industrial interests. This isn't simply my opinion, it was well established, acknowledged US government policy. The problem is that some kids will try marijuana and discover that their own governments haven't been telling them the truth. When they discover the lies about marijuana, they tend to disregard the warnings about other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. The "gateway effect" is, in fact, the result of a "gateway drug policy".
First, let's review what we know. There is no drug that, when taken, will give you a craving for a completely unrelated drug you have never had. That's the stuff of magic, not science.
It is not often the case with urban legends that we are lucky enough to know exactly when and where they arose but, in this instance we do know. In fact, we know when it arose, how it arose, and the person who made it up. The short history is as follows:
In 1910, "experts" believed that the certain stepping stone to opiate addiction was "eating Mexicanised food". The idea, which comes from America's puritanical past, is that pleasure is sinful, and small pleasures lead to cravings for larger pleasures. In this example, those who crave spicy food will inevitably crave larger pleasures, such as opium. See "Themes in Chemical Prohibition", the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Conference Report from 1979 at [линк]
In the 1920s, some states outlawed marijuana because of the belief that heroin addiction would lead to the use of marijuana--the exact opposite of the modern myth. See "History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the US" by Professor Charles Whitebread at [линк]
In 1937, Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, testified before Congress for the Marihuana Tax Act, which outlawed marijuana at the national level in the US. During his testimony, he was asked specifically if there was any connection between marijuana and heroin. He replied that there was no connection at all. See the full text of Anslinger's testimony at [линк]
In 1944, the LaGuardia Committee Report on Marihuana confirmed Anslinger's statement: that there was no connection at all between marijuana and heroin. See "The Mental Attitude of the Marihuana Smoker Toward Society and Marihuana" from the committee's report at [линк]
In 1951, the Boggs Act was proposed to toughen penalties on drugs. Harry Anslinger again testified about the need for tougher drug laws, and more agents and money to enforce them. Unfortunately for Anslinger, just before he testified, the head of the US federal addiction research programme testified that they knew for sure that all of the reasons that had been given to outlaw marijuana in 1937 were completely false. In short, he said there was no justification for the marijuana laws at all because it had none of the ill effects that Anslinger and his associates had alleged.
Anslinger had the rug pulled out from under him. He was left with no justification for his call for more money and agents to enforce the marijuana laws. In desperation, he came up with the idea that marijuana was the certain stepping stone to heroin. In so testifying, he directly contradicted his own testimony for the Marihuana Tax Act 14 years earlier. There wasn't any evidence to support the idea then, and there hasn't been any since. See Chapter VI, "The 1950's: Harsher Penalties and a New Rationale--The Stepping-Stone Theory" from "The Forbidden Fruit and the Tree of Knowledge: An inquiry into the legal history of marijuana prohibition" at [линк]
Over the decades, there have been numerous major studies of the drug laws and the supposed facts behind them. Many of these studies included examination of the gateway myth, and they all found that there was no serious research to support it. See "Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy" at [линк]
So what evidence is there for the idea? The myth rests on the assumption that because most heroin addicts used marijuana before they used heroin, then marijuana must have been the cause of them using heroin. This is the logical fallacy of "post hoc ergo propter hoc"--the belief that because one event preceded another event, the second event must have been caused by the first. Don't try that argument in any logic or philosophy class because you will surely fail the class.
What association there is between marijuana users and heroin users can be explained by a few simple truths. The first is that, if you can find someone who is silly enough to put a needle full of black-market heroin in their arm, then you have probably found someone who has done every other silly thing they could think of--marijuana just being one more item on a long list. As psychologists will tell you, people who engage in one risky behaviour are likely to engage in other risky behaviours.
The second truth is that the current policy puts the sale of both drugs in the hands of organised crime. Therefore, people who come into contact with marijuana vendors are more likely to come into contact with heroin vendors.
The third truth is that the US Government has been blatantly lying about drugs for the last several decades, in order to support certain governmental and industrial interests. This isn't simply my opinion, it was well established, acknowledged US government policy. The problem is that some kids will try marijuana and discover that their own governments haven't been telling them the truth. When they discover the lies about marijuana, they tend to disregard the warnings about other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. The "gateway effect" is, in fact, the result of a "gateway drug policy".