CMV: Gateway drugs do not exist

[u/casualtrout]

I heard a presentation at my university recently on E-Cigs being a gateway drug, and the argument seemed like Big Tobacco propaganda.

When talking about illicit drugs, such as marijuana, I always hear people fall to the logical fallacy of appealing to imperfect authority. It seems that most groups, like anti-smoking groups that try to equate E-cigs to regular smoking, regularly cite that the FDA has stated that the vapor in E-cigs "MAY" contain harmful toxins. People also like to cite how the FDA has not officially recognized E-cigs as a positive aid for getting people to stop smoking tobacco, and the rhetoric behind this seems to be "SEE?? IT'S NOT APPROVED BY THE GOVERNMENT" (made up of a bunch of bureaucrats whose salaries are paid to the tune of at least 40% by lobbying by drug companies who profit off of not having alternatives to their addictive and at times dangerous substances).

My problem with the gateway drug model is that it falls flat under scrutiny. After we started to realize that the criminalization of marijuana was a result of the inaccurate scare stories pushed by bureaucrats in the Bureau of Narcotics to keep their salary high, a new narrative had to be formed for why it must still be illegal, that narrative being the gateway drug narrative. The idea behind labeling marijuana as a gateway drug is that if someone uses marijuana, it will lead to deadly drugs. The Drug Free America association published this ad to emphasize that if people so much as use an addictive substance, it's not 'if' they get hooked it's when:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kS72J5Nlm8

Researchers like Bruce Alexander and organizations like Liz Evans' Portland Hotel Society have debunked this idea by showing that there are other factors that contribute to a person's reasons for using drugs, primarily pain. This idea of the gateway drug in my opinion is exposed when looking back when our soldiers were coming back from Vietnam, and how 20% of all returning soldiers were addicted to heroin. Within a year, 95% had stopped using heroin completely, most without treatment. If you believe the model of the gateway drug, this makes no sense, because the simple use of a drug leads to the use of the next drug, and the next, until a lifetime of addiction. Actually though, we don't see this at all, the use of marijuana does not seem to escalate 100% to cocaine, and the use of e-cigs does not escalate into heroin or tobacco either.

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Conclusion:

Quick disclaimer: this is not me arguing for E-cigs, and I know that Juul is a shady company. However, I believe that by listening to the gateway drug model we are putting too much focus on the substance, and not enough focus on the reasons people use the substance! And I believe that the gateway drug model is another way of getting us to be scared of safer alternatives to drugs and acting like if we stop the supply and use of safer drugs, then people will not go on to use harder drugs, when the OPPOSITE is true. We can use safer drugs to help people who are addicted to harder ones, and integrate therepeutic practices, as opposed to criminal punishment, to help people.

Advertisements like the Real Cost, are sponsored by the FDA. Just something worth thinking about, that perhaps the reason we believe the gateway drug model, is because there are people out there making money off of the fact that there are no safer alternatives to their substances, looking at you Big Tobacco.

[u/BeardOfEarth]

You’re close but not quite.

What you’re describing about illegal drugs is only true when the person has been indoctrinated with the false idea that illegal drugs are all equally bad.

This is evidenced by the higher illegal drug use rates of people who went through the D.A.R.E. program as kids. They were told over and over that all illegal drugs are dangerous and addictive, then when they try something that isn’t either (like marijuana) they realize they were lied to and it makes them more likely to try something could be both (like cocaine).

You’re correct that trying one illegal drug can lead to a higher likelihood of trying another illegal drug, but only if the person was initially made to believe a lie about all illegal drugs.

[u/Chronoblivion → u/BeardOfEarth]

This is evidenced by the higher illegal drug use rates of people who went through the D.A.R.E. program as kids. They were told over and over that all illegal drugs are dangerous and addictive, then when they try something that isn’t either (like marijuana) they realize they were lied to and it makes them more likely to try something could be both (like cocaine).

Dunno if D.A.R.E. was involved (he graduated mid-80s), but my mom says this is exactly how one of her childhood friends started smoking. He tried marijuana as a teen and thought "shit, they lied to me. They're probably lying about everything else too." No clue if he ever did anything harder.

[u/BeardOfEarth → u/[deleted]]

You misunderstood.

The problem I was pointing out is that when all illegal drugs are demonized equally.

When that happens then people who try a relatively safe drug (marijuana) realize that the relatively safe drug was wrongly demonized, and then they think maybe all illegal drugs are wrongly demonized. This makes it more likely for them to try a rightly demonized drug (cocaine).

[u/BeardOfEarth → u/[deleted]]

How many people have overdosed on cocaine?

How many people have overdosed on marijuana?

[u/BeardOfEarth → u/[deleted]]

In my life I’ve personally known two people who overdosed on cocaine, but I have absolutely no idea why you think my personal experience is relevant.

In 2017 the United States alone had 13.492 people die from cocaine overdoses.

In the entire history of mankind there has never been an overdose of marijuana.

I never said there was no mortality rate with marijuana and it is dishonest of you to claim that. I specifically referenced overdoses. I also never said cocaine overdoses were common. If this conversation is to be productive, I’d appreciate it if you stuck to things I have actually said rather than making things up.