“Is marijuana a gateway drug?” Economist.com. The economist, 26 March 2015.
The author of this article argues with Chris Cristie’s, governor of New Jersey, view of marijuana as a gateway drug to other drugs. The author goes on to reason with Cristie’s gateway theory but states his position that marijuana is not a drug in that category.
The Economist writer begins the article talking about how marijuana is so common that it is no wonder if “any abuser of hard drugs is likely to have encountered it along the way.” He also states that “heroin addicts [have] previously tried chocolate” while also explaining that chocolate did not make them heroin abusers. According to the author, establishing a casual link between marijuana users and hard drug abusers is a tricky bit considering marijuana users “in America [have] steadily increased” while cocaine users have decreased in numbers since 2007.
The author continues to reason with the governor’s theory by saying that it was true that heroin use ” has been going up, but the gateway drug there seems to be prescription painkillers.” The only reason the author believes that there might be a link between marijuana and hard drug usage is because of the supplier. He continues by explaining that most marijuana suppliers often give samples of new drugs to their customers. He goes on saying how this practice of buying marijuana off the streets “gets youngsters in with the wrong crowd.”
The journalist agrees that “exposing more people to marijuana could prime more brains to enjoy other substances” and he also suggests that the factors would be the same with people who have been exposed to prescription medication, alcohol, and even tobacco. Alcohol and nicotine, according to the author, have the same “cross-sesitising” effect that marijuana does and therefore marijuana should not be blamed for people’s interest in furthering their drug use. The anonymous author of this article insists that Governor Chistie’s worries, about marijuana being a gateway drug, are misplaced.
I found this article useful because it does make a valid point that drug abusers, although exposed to marijuana once in their life, have also been exposed to other factors that could have contributed to their problem. The information found in this article shows that marijuana is what users make of it. Coming from a town sitting on the Mexican border, I can tell you that the information that the author states, about drug suppliers introducing their customers to harder substances, is valid. That being said, it is quite evident that marijuana may not necessarily be considered a gateway drug.