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Cannabis is a Gateway To...Online Weighs In!
1. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 2/18
CANNABIS AS A GATEWAY DRUG
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2. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 3/18
Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit
Responds!)
The flip-flop over what cannabis is a gateway drug for is priceless!
Posted by:
Reginald Reefer, today at 12:00am
https://www.reddit.com/r/weed/comments/ukobhd/is_cannabis_a_gateway_drug/
(https://www.reddit.com/r/weed/comments/ukobhd/is_cannabis_a_gateway_drug/)
Before we continue with this article I think itâs important to make it clear that the âGateway Theoryâ has been disproven
for decades now. If you are not sure what the Gateway Theory is, essentially it states that when someone smokes
cannabis and experience euphoria â they become âhookedâ on the feeling. Is cannabis a gateway drug or a reverse-
gateway drug (https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-as-a-reverse-gateway-drug-new-study)?
3. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 4/18
However, as tolerance to cannabis increases and the euphoric half-life diminishes, the theory suggests that due to the
addiction to the euphoria users would end up consuming harder drugs â eventually becoming heroin junkies and
ultimately being a plight on society.
Sounds feasibleâŚon paper. However, when you consider that in 2019, nearly 1 in 5 Americans admitted that they have
consumed cannabis. Thatâs nearly 50 million people. Yet, in all likeliness that number is even higher.
If the Gateway Theory was true (https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/why-marijuana-is-not-a-gateway-drug-check-the-
science), it would mean that these 50+ million people would be steadily consuming harder drugs, yet this isnât the case.
In fact, most cannabis users tend to distance themselves from other drugs including alcohol when they begin
consuming more regularly.
4. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 5/18
I know that personally I drastically reduced my drinking. I wasnât a heavy drinker before (except for a stint from 18-23)
but once I started smoking cannabis more regularly again [I took a break for a few years] â my alcohol consumption
naturally tanked.
Why?
I didnât like hangoversâŚI still donât, which is why I prefer cannabis. My tolerance level is high enough to be able to
consume and predict how high Iâd be and for how long. Itâs become a very âefficientâ drug and made me more
productive in general.
Like me, many cannabis users have followed a similar path of reducing their consumption of âotherâ drugs meaning that
cannabis is more of an âExit Drugâ than it is a âGateway Drugâ.
Now that you have been schooled on the basics of the Gateway Theory, letâs get into the meat of todayâs article â How
Reddit Responded to the Prompt⌠âCannabis is a Gateway toâŚâ
Cannabis users respond to the Gateway TheoryâŚ
As we have established that the Gateway Theory is malarkey, the following are responses from some of the people of
Reddit who discovered that marijuana is in fact a gateway!
âA_Guy_Lurkingâ said; âMade me realize I like salmonâ which is an interesting point and is highly relatable. There are many
foods I used to not like prior to smoking weed, but these days I thoroughly enjoy.
For starters, I became more tolerant to vegetarian type food. I used to be solely a meat eater, but these days my range
of food is far greater. I still eat meat, but I could just as easily go for a large salad using some fresh ingredients from my
garden â maybe a cannabis leaf or two, some olive oil infused with weedâŚyum!
Point is, like âMr. Lurkingâ suggested, cannabis can be a Gateway to more food choices. You might be surprised at what
youâll end up liking under the influence of cannabis.
5. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 6/18
The âPoop Sock Finderâ (https://www.reddit.com/user/PoopSockFinder/), who hopefully didnât find any poop socksâŚ
chimed in with some tips on making Salmon taste like pure glory;
âI go up catch em every fall, I have made salmon almost every way possible , my favorite is melting some brown sugar in a tiny
bit of bacon fat , and glazing the salmon with it 10/10â; and when asked if there is any âbest practicesâ when it comes to
Salmon he had this to say, âI think grilling/smoking are by far the best ways to prepare almost any meat.â
Some good advice from a guy whoâs Reddit handle is âPoop Sock Finderâ.
âOkay_Image6174â added in their own recipe;
Have you tried grilled salmon over a salad?? It's one of my favorite lunches. I make a salad of spring mix greens, spinach,
tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded carrots and an olive oil or italian vinaigrette. Top it with a lemon pepper grilled salmon filet,
delicious, filling, and healthy!!
Which sounds taste AF! It also seems that going through this thread that the only thing that cannabis Gateways is an
appetite.
Further down the comment section people shifted the conversation to alcohol, which one Redditor called âThe Devilâs
Juiceâ. âDoingMeJustVibingâ agreed; âI can get high as FUCK and still be okay the next day. Iâll drink a bottle of wine and Iâll be
paying the price for the next 2/3 days. I cannotâ.
This echoes the sentiment I mentioned earlier. People tend to steer away from these harder drugs when they begin
consuming cannabis at a higher frequency. This is especially true the older we get as âaequissaintâ mentioned;
âI'm closing in on 40 years old and until the past year or so I've never really cared for weed all that much. It was a few times a
year thing at most because I always preferred drinking and couldn't mix the two without getting sick. Now that I'm getting
older hangovers happen much easier and are far worse than they used to be and I have drastically cut back my drinking. I also
have found a love for weed, so that works out well.â
Reverting back to the narrative of Cannabis being a Gateway Drug, âAimheatcoolâ had this to say;
6. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 7/18
âCannabis is a gateway to peace, relaxation, clarity, pain relief, and creativity. It allows us to see how the world could be
instead of what it is.â
I believe this sentiment to be accurate for the most part. Most people use cannabis to reduce pain, deal with anxiety
and as âcreative sauceâ. I use cannabis for work many times. As I mentioned, cannabis has made me more productive.
Of course, this isnât the case for everyone, but when you do creative (and sometimes highly mechanical) activities like I
do â then cannabis can become a definite âwork-enhancerâ as well as a means for me to unplug at the end of the day.
Finally, we have âMischief_N_MaryJaneâ who commented with the true origins of the Gateway Theory;
I have been getting high for two decades and no, cannabis is not a gateway drug. That is propaganda lingo from the 80s.
As BreadFruitRich6931 explained;
First Lady Reganâs propaganda: There are so many people in prison because she wanted her husband to remain in office.
The propaganda was fed to many children via the D.A.R.E platform in the USA.
Cannabis is NOT a âgatewayâ to anything other than what it does to help the person w/ their aliments. Or, if used in recreation
itâs better than any alcohol would be.
At this point there came a number of posts that pointed out the inefficacies of the D.A.R.E programs. Kids these days
wonât be subjected to the âJust Say Noâ campaigns that were drummed into the minds of 1980s, 1990s and 2000s teens.
It was CelereMort that hit the nail right on the head;
Personally I tried marijuana before I tried LCD. I don't think I would've tried LCD if it wasn't for marijuana. I still wouldn't call it
a gateway drug tho. It wasn't because I wanted something more powerful, it just made me realize that it wasn't necessarily
that bad to just try it if you can avoid an addiction and do it in a proper environment.
Final Words
7. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 8/18
The first drug that most of us every truly take is âsugarâ. If weâre going to be basing an argument on the chemical
composition of a substance activating the âreward mechanismâ in our brains â itâs safe to say that when parents send
their kids Trick or Treating every year, they are basically condoning the candy equivalent of chasing the sunrise with a
bag of coke!
Sugar â interestingly enough â behaves similar to cocaine as was concluded in one study;
âConsuming sugar produces effects similar to that of cocaine, altering mood, possibly through its ability to induce reward and
pleasure, leading to the seeking out of sugar,â they write, citing rodent studies which show that sweetness is preferred even
over cocaine, and that mice can experience sugar withdrawal. - SOURCE (https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/52/14/910)
However, as was pointed out in this article (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/aug/25/is-sugar-really-as-
addictive-as-cocaine-scientists-row-over-effect-on-body-and-brain) â the assessment that sugar is as addictive as
cocaine isnât established science. However, it cannot be denied that sugar is addictive and does alter our brain
chemistry.
Under the assumption that the Gateway Theory is correct, this would mean that everybody started with sugar and have
been looking for ways to âchase the highâ.
If you think this sounds ludicrous, then welcome to the vast majority of free thinkers in this world. The fact of the matter
is that people can get addicted on virtually anything. It simply requires the right mind and the right opportunity to get
âhookedâ on an activity or a substance.
Unfortunately, this belief is still prevalent within political circles â which could be a reason why cannabis is still not legal
globally. The old programming is still lingering in the collective hive mind of humanity.
Fortunately, the newer generation of kids are growing up with a different mindset than those who prohibited cannabis
in the first place. The children of tomorrow will never know a world without cannabis.
CANNABIS AS GATEWAY DRUG, READ MORE...
8. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 9/18
(https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/why-marijuana-is-not-a-gateway-
drug-check-the-science)
CHECK THE SCIENCE ON THE GATEWAY DRUG THEORY! (https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/why-marijuana-is-not-a-
gateway-drug-check-the-science)
OR..
9. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 10/18
(https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-as-a-reverse-gateway-drug-
new-study)
WHAT IS THE REVERSE GATEWAY THEORY FOR CANNABIS? (https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-as-a-reverse-
gateway-drug-new-study)
What did you think?
  Keep reading... click here Â
(https://cannabis.net/blog)
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10. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 11/18
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12. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 13/18
13. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 14/18
(https://cannabis.net/blog/technology/is-your-cannabis-radioactive)
TECHNOLOGY
Is Your Cannabis Radioactive?
All research conducted on food irradiation says it is quite safe. Internet chat rooms and conspiracy theory lovers may say food and crops are radioactive, but that
is not the case. Why? Gamma rays used on food crops and cannabis are not strong enough to alter or change the atoms in the plant. They are so small they can
pass right through it. Think about getting an x-ray at the dentist and how the machine turns on, hums for a second, and then shuts off. That is a similar process,âŚ
14. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 15/18
(https://cannabis.net/blog/interview/the-future-of-the-cannabis-industry-in-the-next-10-years-with-igor-dunaevsky)
INTERVIEW
The Future of the Cannabis Industry in the Next 10 Years with Igor Dunaevsky
Cannabis has a bright future, but the one that will be significantly different than cigarettes, alcohol, and other familiar verticals. Marijuana can alter how people
act and think, so its popularization might have huge effects that are even hard to estimate. We can only hope to see a less aggressive and more tolerant and self-
aware society.
15. 5/16/22, 3:24 PM Cannabis is a Gateway To....(Reddit Responds!)
https://cannabis.net/blog/opinion/cannabis-is-a-gateway-to....reddit-responds 16/18
OPINION