by Harry Windsor

Created on: February 19, 2009   Last Updated: March 01, 2009

"Methinks they protesteth too much" I'm not convinced that misquoting Shakespeare is the strongest way to begin an argument but then as someone who finds himself 'at the gateway' I am perhaps not ideally placed to prejudge other people. But seriously one major cause of the gateway drug theory is based on the faulty logic of affirming the consequent (P implies Q does not mean that Q implies P). So the fact that all hard drug users have also used marijuana in no way implies that all marijuana users will also use hard drugs (if this were true then alcohol would be a gateway drug).

Apart from its faulty logic the gateway theory also lacks empirical evidence, while it is true that some dealers are reckless and cynical seeing a pot user as a potential heroin dealer, this is not universal. In fact hard drugs are anathema for the majority of marijuana users. Furthermore using softer drugs such as marijuana does not cause a person to lose all judgement, although some may dispute this, a person who has developed a taste for smoking pot is as likely to feel a strong aversion to heroin as anyone else. That is to say that people who are likely to risk taking drugs such as heroin, when everyone is aware of these risks, belong to a certain type of personality, they would take these drugs regardless of whether they have used marijuana (it just happens that in our society marijuana is much more widely available at a younger age so it would be extremely unlikely to encounter an opportunity to take heroin before encountering an opportunity to use cannabis).

The fact is that young people soon discover that the information they have grown up with is distorted. In the case of what they have been told about heroin, crack cocaine and other drugs, the information given by parents and teachers withstands scrutiny - these drugs appear to be highly addictive and to destroy lives. In the case of drugs such as marijuana they begin to encounter instances of its use and can see no obvious adverse effects. Their friends use it but they do not fit the description of the drug addict as it is engrained in us from a young age. In fact these people seem to have a good time but, on the whole, remain in control of their lives to a greater or lesser extent.

As life continues, and with the help of research and personal testimony, it becomes clear to a large proportion of college age people that marijuana is similar to alcohol - if enjoyed responsibly, occasionally and not to excess it causes minimum harm,

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