Gateway drug theory
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/75.121.68.196|75.121.68.196]] to last version by DOI bot (using [[WP:HG|Huggle]])
The '''gateway drug theory''' is the theory that use of a "soft" (less dangerous) drug will cause subsequent use of "harder" (more dangerous) drugs.<ref> [http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/YouthIssues/1104198586.html Gateway and Steppingstone Substances</ref> [[Tobacco]], [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]], and [[marijuana]] are often said to be gateway drugs.<ref>http://www.wnet.org/closetohome/science/html/gateway.html+%22gateway+drugs%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us</ref><ref>[[Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse]]</ref><ref>[[Drug Abuse Resistance Education]]</ref>
Some research suggests that some serious drug abusers have used other drugs before using marijuana or alcohol.<ref name=atypical>{{cite journal|title=Sequence of drug use among serious drug users: typical vs atypical progression|author=Mackesy-Amiti ME, Fendrich M, Goldstein PJ|year=1997|journal=Drug and alcohol dependence|url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=9179520|volume=45|pages=185|doi=10.1016/S0376-8716(97)00032-X}}</ref>
Individual drug-abuse histories show that "hard drug" users do progress from one drug to another, but the reasearch is not clear enough to confirm the gateway theory.<ref>[http://www.nap.edu/html/marimed/ Contents | Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base | Institute of Medicine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
There are many pharmacological similarities between various drugs of abuse.
==Marijuana==
{{main|Cannabis (drug)}}
Multiple scientific studies show that the consumption of [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] can possibly predict a significant higher risk for the subsequent use of other "harder" illicit drugs, while other studies show that it cannot.<ref>{{cite news|first=Bruce|last=Mirken|url=http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/45535|title=Why Smoking Marijuana Doesn't Make You a Junkie|publisher=[[AlterNet]]|date=[[2006-12-19]]|accessdate=2007-06-11}}</ref><ref>[http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06339/743649-114.stm Researchers say smoking pot not always path to hard drugs drug use<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Two recent studies are from [[University of Pittsburgh]]'s [[University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy|School of Pharmacy]],<ref name="Tarter2006GatewayHypothesis">{{cite journal| last = Tarter | first = Ralph E. | coauthors = Michael Vanyukov, Levent Kirisci, Maureen Reynolds and Duncan B. Clark, M.D. | year = 2006 | month = December | title = Predictors of Marijuana Use in Adolescents Before and After Licit Drug Use: Examination of the Gateway Hypothesis | journal = [[American Journal of Psychiatry]] | volume = 163 | issue = 12 | doi = 10.1176/appi.ajp.163.12.2134 | url = http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/12/2134| pages = 2134 | format = abstract | pmid = 17151165}}</ref> and from Dr. Michael Lynskey.<ref name=Lynskey>[http://www.nida.nih.gov/NIDA_notes/NNvol18N4/Twins.html], [http://www.springerlink.com/content/f8422178014431x6/] [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/289/4/427] [http://www.nature.com/embor/journal/v4/n7/full/embor893.html#B6]</ref>
In 1999, a study by the Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Health at the [[Institute of Medicine]] entitled "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," found no evidence of a link between cannabis use and the subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs on the basis of its particular physiological effect.<ref name=IOM>{{cite web|url=http://books.nap.edu/readingroom/books/marimed/notice.html|title=Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base|publisher=[[National Academies Press]]|date=1999|accessdate=2007-03-30}}</ref>
In December 2002, a study by [[RAND]] regarding if cannabis use results in the subsequent use of [[cocaine]] and [[heroin]] was published in the British Journal of Addiction, a peer-reviewed scientific publication. The researchers created a mathematical model simulating adolescent drug use. National rates of cannabis and hard drug use in the model matched survey data collected from representative samples of youths from across the United States; the model produced patterns of drug use and abuse. Andrew Morral, associate director of RAND's Public Safety and Justice unit and lead author of the study stated:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rand.org/news/press.02/gateway.html|publisher=[[RAND]]|date=[[2002-12-02]]|accessdate=2007-07-11|title=RAND Study Casts Doubt on Claims that Marijuana Acts as "Gateway" to the Use of Cocaine and Heroin.}}</ref>
{{quote|We've shown that the marijuana gateway effect is not the best explanation for the link between marijuana use and the use of harder drugs ... An alternative, simpler and more compelling explanation accounts for the pattern of drug use you see in this country, without resort to any gateway effects. While the gateway theory has enjoyed popular acceptance, scientists have always had their doubts. Our study shows that these doubts are justified.}}
In 2006, the [[Karolinska Institute]] in [[Sweden]] used twelve rats to examine how adolescent use of cannabis effects subsequent abuse of other illicit drugs. The study gave six of the twelve "teenage" (28-49 days old, or 12-18 in human years) rats a small dose of [[Tetrahydrocannabinol|THC]], reportedly equivalent to one cannabis joint smoked by a human, every three days. The rats were allowed to administer [[heroin]] by pushing a lever and the study found the rats given THC took larger doses of heroin.
{{quote|The current findings support the gateway hypothesis demonstrating that adolescence cannabis exposure has an enduring impact on hedonic processing resulting in enhanced opiate intake, possibly as a consequence of alterations in limbic opioid neuronal populations.<ref>[http://diss.kib.ki.se/2007/978-91-7357-064-0/ Ellgren, Maria: Neurobiological effects of early life cannabis exposure in relation to the gateway hypothesis]</ref>}}
The institute examined the brain cells in the rats and found THC alters the opioid system that is associated with positive emotions, which lessens the effects of [[opiate]]s on rat's brain and thus causes them to use more heroin.<ref>{{cite news|title=Why teenagers should steer clear of cannabis|date=[[2006-07-05]]|accessdate=2007-05-12|last=Vince|first=Gaia|publisher=[http://www.NewScientist.com NewScientist.com]|url=http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn9488&feedId=teenagers_rss20}}</ref> Paul Armentano, policy analyst for [[National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (United States)|NORML]], claimed because the rats were given THC at the young age of 28 days, is impossible to extrapolate the results of this study to humans. Also, cannabis exposed adult rats, despite being desensitized to heroin, were in another study, no more likely to get addicted than the controls. <ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A416164|title=Reefer Madness|first=Jordan|last=Smith|date=[[2006-11-03]]|accessdate=2007-05-13|publisher=[http://www.austinchronicle.com/ The Austin Chronicle]}}</ref>
In December 2006, a 12 year gateway drug hypothesis study on 214 boys from ages 10-12 by the [[American Psychiatric Association]] was published in the [[American Journal of Psychiatry]]. The study concluded adolescents who used cannabis prior to using other drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, were no more likely to develop a substance abuse disorder than subjects in the study who did not use cannabis prior to using other drugs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7118|publisher=[[National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (United States)|NORML]]|date=2006-12-07|title=Marijuana Use Per Se Not a 'Gateway' To Illicit Drug Use, Study Says|accessdate=2007-06-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|publisher=[[American Journal of Psychiatry]]|url=http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/163/12/2134|accessdate= 2007-06-09|title=Predictors of Marijuana Use in Adolescents Before and After Licit Drug Use: Examination of the Gateway Hypothesis|date=December 2006}}</ref>
A stratified, random sample of 1943 adolescents was recruited from secondary schools across [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]], [[Australia]] at age 14–15 years. This cohort was interviewed on eight occasions until the age of 24–25 years. At age 24 years, 12% of the sample had used amphetamines in the past year, with 1–2% using at least weekly. Young adult amphetamine use was predicted strongly by adolescent drug use and was associated robustly with other drug use and dependence in young adulthood. Associations were stronger for more frequent users. Among young adults who had not been using amphetamines at age 20 years, the strongest predictor of use at age 24 years was the use of other drugs, particularly cannabis, at 20 years.<ref>[http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2007.01906.x Louisa Degenhardt et al Who are the new amphetamine users? A 10-year prospective study of young Australians, 2007]</ref> Those who were smoking cannabis at the age of 15 were as much as 15 times more likely to be using amphetamines in their early 20s.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/18/1981329.htm ABC News Australia: Cannabis linked to use of amphetamines, 2007-07-18]</ref>
One reason the risk factor for abusing drugs in cannabis users is higher because few people try hard drugs prior to trying cannabis, not because cannabis users increasingly try hard drugs such as amphetamines.<ref> Zimmer Ph.D, Lynn: "Marijuana Myths Marijuana Facts", pages 32-37. The Lindesmith 1997</ref>
== Tobacco ==
According to the [[National Institute on Drug Abuse|NIDA]], "People who abuse drugs are also likely to be cigarette smokers. More than two-thirds of drug abusers are regular tobacco smokers, a rate more than double that of the rest of the population."<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20051103184120/http://www.nida.nih.gov/nida_notes/NNVol15N5/Craving.html The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the [[NIH]], a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.]] – Nicotine Craving and Heavy Smoking May Contribute to Increased Use of Cocaine and Heroin {{Fact|date=February 2007}} – Patrick Zickler, NIDA NOTES Staff Writer. URL Accessed October, 2006</ref>
== External links ==
*"[http://www.marijuanalibrary.org/gateway.html The Myth of Marijuana's Gateway Effect]" from [[National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws|NORML]] ([[1995-02-07]])
*[http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k4/alcDU/alcDU.htm Illicit Drug Use Among Lifetime Nondrinkers and Lifetime Alcohol Users (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)]
== References ==
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[[Category:Drug addiction]]
[[Category:Theories]]
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