Marijuana Arrests (in the US) For Year 2009 Near Record High

[ValerieA 350]

I want to say that I vaguely remember one, from many years ago, but that's not enough to confirm that it's true, no man.

My point was that, by saying marijuana is a gateway to harder drugs, you are saying that more people who do hard drugs do/did marijuana than those who don't do hard drugs. The same could be said about the marijuana/alcohol causal relationship. Really, that would lead to the argument that alcohol is the gateway to hard drugs.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Don't bogart.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Ah, I agree. But do you know any people who abstain from alcohol that indulge in illicit drugs?

I know A LOT of people who do.

[ValerieA 350]

I know A LOT of people who do.

Then maybe it is my experience that is faulty; every single person I know that smokes marijuana, whether occasionally or frequently, also drinks. I will go look for statistics that show a direct or indirect relationship, if any statistically significant relationship actually does exist.

[ValerieA 350]

Small sample size in this study, although they reference other studies in their discussion I will check out:

RESULTSWe compared the control group to the moderate and high alcohol use groups. We predicted that the more alcohol a person has consumed that the more likely they will be to want to smoke marijuana. Also, people who reported to using alcohol often will also report to using marijuana.A chi-square test of independence was calculated comparing the frequency of marijuana use for participants. A significant interaction was found (x² (2) = 13.34, p< .05). People who drank more alcohol were more likely to want to try marijuana than people who had not been drinking. 67% of the high alcohol group, 31% of the moderate alcohol group, and 6.7% of the no alcohol group tried the marijuana (see Figure 1).

For the majority of experienced marijuana users the first drug they ever tried was alcohol. Alcohol was the first drug used by 61.3% of marijuana users. Tobacco was the first drug used by 19.4% of marijuana users. Marijuana was the first drug used by 19.4% of marijuana users (see Figure 2).

Link

Anyway, I was just trying to refute the "marijuana as a gateway drug" argument, not suggest that we should do away with alcohol. Believe me, my friends would think it a hoot if I became a crusader against alcohol!

[The_Dude 1,142]

Small sample size in this study, although they reference other studies in their discussion I will check out:

Link

Anyway, I was just trying to refute the "marijuana as a gateway drug" argument, not suggest that we should do away with alcohol. Believe me, my friends would think it a hoot if I became a crusader against alcohol!

Interesting. Of the people that I know, the ones who smoke more heavily are the ones who don't drink at all. I donno, maybe they are of the crunchy hippy peace love mother earth variety. The ones who do, are the more social smokers.

[ValerieA 350]

Interesting. Of the people that I know, the ones who smoke more heavily are the ones who don't drink at all. I donno, maybe they are of the crunchy hippy peace love mother earth variety. The ones who do, are the more social smokers.

I don't know many people like that. A couple of people in BC, that's about it. However, I do know quite a few heavy drinkers, and they are more likely to wander out the door to the back of the bar when we are out drinking. I am guessing we have a discrepancy in our social sets. Yours sound a whole lot more wholesome than mine.

I didn't know hippies were crunchy.

[The_Dude 1,142]

I don't know many people like that. A couple of people in BC, that's about it. However, I do know quite a few heavy drinkers, and they are more likely to wander out the door to the back of the bar when we are out drinking. I am guessing we have a discrepancy in our social sets. Yours sound a whole lot more wholesome than mine.

I didn't know hippies were crunchy.

Well, I don't know too many hippies, more so, they are just surfers or skaters who use the whole "its from the earth, it's natural, alcohol is a man made derivative to kill you" argument that they use.

[ValerieA 350]

Well, I don't know too many hippies, more so, they are just surfers or skaters who use the whole "its from the earth, it's natural, alcohol is a man made derivative to kill you" argument that they use.

They have a point. Anyway, I am all for the decriminalization of marijuana. It was a shock coming to the US, and the whole pre-employment drug screening that is basically mandatory here. We don't have that back home.

[The_Dude 1,142]

They have a point. Anyway, I am all for the decriminalization of marijuana. It was a shock coming to the US, and the whole pre-employment drug screening that is basically mandatory here. We don't have that back home.

Yeah, but in Canada, they think Taco Bell is actually Mexican food, so what are we to surmise?

[ValerieA 350]

Yeah, but in Canada, they think Taco Bell is actually Mexican food, so what are we to surmise?

Urgh. Tacotime is much better than Taco Bell, at least. I still miss Tacotime when I have a hangover. The only decent Mexican restaurant I ever found in Toronto was downtown, in the theatre district, and expensive as hell. It was worth it, though, I love Mexican food.