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Study Finds Alcohol, Not Marijuana, Is the Biggest Gateway Drug For Teens

Posted by Soulskill on from the can-of-worms dept.

An anonymous reader writes with news of a study out of the University of Florida which found that alcohol is the biggest "gateway" drug, the use of which increases the likelihood of other drug use. Quoting: "In the sample of students, alcohol also represented the most commonly used substance, with 72.2 percent of students reporting alcohol consumption at some point in their lifetime. Comparatively, 45 percent of students reported using tobacco, and 43.3 percent cited marijuana use. In addition, the drug use documented found that substance use typically begins with the most socially acceptable drugs, such as alcohol and cigarettes, then proceeds to marijuana use and finally to other illegal, harder drugs. Moreover, the study showed that students who used alcohol exhibited a significantly greater likelihood — up to 16 times — of licit and illicit substance use."

5 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Additional story tag by Deep+Esophagus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This should be tagged #noshitsherlock. Seriously, the only reason pot is demonized is because the tobacco and booze industries own too many politicians (and vice-versa).

  2. "Gateway" theory is still irrelevant by wicka_wicka · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The idea of a specific drug being a "gateway" to others is incredibly misleading. Alcohol and weed are the obvious places to start because they're the easiest to obtain. You're going to get to harder drugs eventually if you're that type of person, but no one is just going to start at heroin.

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    hi
  3. It is obvious to the educated by euroq · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It may be obvious that marijuana is relatively safe to anyone who actually knows about marijuana and alcohol, or cares to research it, but it isn't to those who don't. People who don't know about it are bombarded with media from the war on drugs and conservatives on how bad marijuana is. They really think smoking pot actually does cause harm to those around them, and it should be easy to understand why, with all of the top-down deception happening in the U.S. and other countries.

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    Just because the U.S. is a republic does not mean it is not a democracy. Democracy/republic are not mutually exclusive.
  4. Re:Thank you, Captain Obvious. by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which doesn't necessarily mean that alcohol is some magic gateway drug, (correlation does not imply causation) but that people with substance abuse problems naturally gravitate first to legal (and hence more easily acquirable) substances.

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    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  5. Re:duh by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I was sober the first time I ever tried alcohol.