Proof that weed isnt a gateway drug

[supuhfly8495]

I've read that, in a study, People in Amsterdam have a much lower percentage of people that do cocaine, heroin, and many hard drugs. In America, where a much lower percentage of people smoke weed, a higher percentage of people do harder drugs than in Amsterdam. If they made weed legal, coke would be the new "gateway drug". I have concluded that the whole "gateway drug" thing is a scare tactic. Yay me!

[mranarchy]

Yeah you're preaching to the converted dude, most of the people here are pro-legalization

[BlackPlastic]

Whether you like it or not, most crack and meth addicts start off with pot.

[neobyte1]

I think you are right, man.

I just smoked a bunch of pot, and a little hunger is all i got :)

[Lost-Chances]

At 9/7/08 05:27 PM, BlackPlastic wrote: Whether you like it or not, most crack and meth addicts start off with pot.

Whether you like it or note, most crack and meth addicts start with alcohol. Would you like to make it illegal to use/sell/manufacture/store?

[Fluker-1]

It's not wether they smoke bud or not it's just the person. It's just that the person who will become a crack/meth/heroin/whatever addict will likely start off smoking bud.

[Dry-Ice]

Okay, so by failing to take into account things like country economy, illegal imports and exports, culture differences and the legalisation issue, you still manage to completely disprove something that's been established through a lot more research than just "reading an article".

[NEVR]

At 9/7/08 05:25 PM, supuhfly8495 wrote: I have concluded that the whole "gateway drug" thing is a scare tactic. Yay me!

First off, Amsterdam is a city in the Netherlands, so why are you comparing a city with an entire country? Or did you simply mean Amsterdam to represent the entirety of the Netherlands?

Secondly, if you'd ever been to the Netherlands (Amsterdam in particular), you'd know that there's a hell of a lot of people out there who will openly sell you a variety of hard drugs. I find it hard to believe that people there aren't actually doing these drugs if there's such a demand for that many dealers to be selling them -- and when I went, there were a LOT of dealers.

Thirdly, I did weed for a few years when I was younger, and I've never done anything harder (although I did want to try shrooms when I was in the Netherlands last year). So, whilst I endorse your theory that weed isn't a gateway drug, I think that your methods of reaching that conclusion are pretty flawed.

[Icheah]

The only real reason that people don't do as many hard drugs in Amsterdam as they do here is because: Harder drugs are nearly impossible to get there, and the law is much harder than ours. We have a higher percentage just because people now where to get it, how to make it, and how much it should cost.
It's not because weed isn't a gateway drug, even though it is, it's just that the drugs we're addicted to here are so much easier to find than they are over there.

[BlackPlastic]

At 9/7/08 05:28 PM, Lost-Chances wrote:

At 9/7/08 05:27 PM, BlackPlastic wrote: Whether you like it or not, most crack and meth addicts start off with pot.

Whether you like it or note, most crack and meth addicts start with alcohol. Would you like to make it illegal to use/sell/manufacture/store?

I never said I was against legalization, I'm just stating a fact.

[MeatMachine]

Weed is a gateway drug for people who retarded enough to not know when to stop and people who are too weak to say no.

Which is a lot of people, honostly.

[BananaBreadMuffin]

In Amsterdam, though, the smoking of cannabis is highly controlled, you can only do it in certain coffee shops for example, it's not like you can smoke a joint while walking down the street. It's this civilized consumption that makes it completely different from someone sitting round in some alley with their friends getting high.

[Lost-Chances]

At 9/7/08 05:31 PM, BlackPlastic wrote: I never said I was against legalization, I'm just stating a fact.

So was I.

[HaniiPuppy]

I could make a long-winded reply about pot here, but instead, I'll simply leave this thought.

If pot was legalised, cocaine would become the new "gateway drug", and if caffeine became restricted or illegalised, coffee would become the new "gateway drug". The government latches onto the softest illegal drug they know and call it a "gateway drug" to keep people from using it and other drugs, ignoring actual evidence. Hell, if they legalised pot, people who use heavier drugs that are trying to stop would have something that could be provided legally and easily that could help them step away from the heavier drugs.

[Mad-Mardigan]

wrong

[Dookiemaister]

jesus christ, there's a weed topic every two seconds in this place.

[NEVR]

At 9/7/08 06:00 PM, Dookiemaister wrote: jesus christ, there's a weed topic every two seconds in this place.

They're slightly less frequent than masturbation topics. Don't really know whether to be pleased about that or not TBH. :/

[gradenator]

Correlation has nothing to do with causation. Your 'proof' isn't real, it just looks real.

[LadyGrace]

Yes, but the level of drug use in Amsterdam is much lower as well. You won't see many wake-and-bakers there. Here it's just the mentality of doing as much as possible in as short amount of time as possible. For them, it's just a thing to relax and do every once and a while. They don't even smoke whole joints. Just take a puff or two and then put it away for later.

[Ss2-teen-gohan-Ss2]

At 9/7/08 05:31 PM, Icheah wrote: The only real reason that people don't do as many hard drugs in Amsterdam as they do here is because: Harder drugs are nearly impossible to get there

Please tell me you're joking.

[ParadoxSaint]

Cocaine's not a hard drug. It's probably the safest most straight forward drug out there, you sniff it, you get hyper and feel happy. The end. If you do a billion dollars worth of it, you have a heart attack, just don't be a jackass and you'll live.

Weed is still probably the primary drug amongst americans, young americans at least.

[dieplease]

At 9/7/08 05:29 PM, Dry-Ice wrote: Okay, so by failing to take into account things like country economy, illegal imports and exports, culture differences and the legalisation issue, you still manage to completely disprove something that's been established through a lot more research than just "reading an article".

They were facts. You can't argue with facts. ...idioth. Pro at least de-criminalization, moving to canada.

[firemaker60]

You guys really need to stop your addiction to these.

[Samen]

It's hard to compare, through percentages even, things between two very differently sized countries.

[rahvin-the-vampire]

At 9/7/08 05:25 PM, supuhfly8495 wrote: I've read that, in a study, People in Amsterdam have a much lower percentage of people that do cocaine, heroin, and many hard drugs. In America, where a much lower percentage of people smoke weed, a higher percentage of people do harder drugs than in Amsterdam. If they made weed legal, coke would be the new "gateway drug". I have concluded that the whole "gateway drug" thing is a scare tactic. Yay me!

It's true. Weed is only a gateway to crime, if it wasn't a crime, it wouldn't be.

Breaking the law with weed seems very similar to breaking the law with Ecstasy or Coke.
It's not at all, but once you get in the mindframe of breaking the law it happens. I don't even think about my baggie anymore..Sometimes I have it in my shirt pocket poking out the top :P It just happens that way.

That shows a tolerance for law-breaking in the extreme. Bad idea, but it wasn't my bad idea to make it illegal :P

[aPerfektFlaw]

There is much more hype on hard drugs. Causes people to want to try them more. It's a vicious circle. You see if weed was legalized, it would be taxed to hell right? So then everyone would be spending all their dollars on weed, thus eliminating the hard drugs. Give or take a few years.

[unbelivable]

At 9/7/08 05:25 PM, supuhfly8495 wrote: I smoke weed because i think im cool

Its still bad for you, /edn

[Unimportant]

I'd be willing to bet good money that, if "hard" drug users were polled, a majority would admit to using weed before using their drug of choice. That being said, I completely understand that most marijuana users do NOT progress to harder drugs.

[kdfsjljklgjfg]

At 9/7/08 05:29 PM, Dry-Ice wrote: Okay, so by failing to take into account things like country economy, illegal imports and exports, culture differences and the legalisation issue, you still manage to completely disprove something that's been established through a lot more research than just "reading an article".

+1

At 9/7/08 05:30 PM, NEVR wrote: So, whilst I endorse your theory that weed isn't a gateway drug, I think that your methods of reaching that conclusion are pretty flawed.

...and another +1

Like Ice said, you can't just compare one city in which things may be COMPLETELY different such as punishment for illegal drugs, the circumstances under which they would be illegal, how easy it is to smuggle them in or out of the different areas, to an entire country.

[krazykangaroo]

At 9/7/08 05:26 PM, mranarchy wrote: Yeah you're preaching to the converted dude, most of the people here are pro-legalization

yeah he pretty much said everything i was gonna say, thanks mranarchy! :D