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Comment by pmc1 | Hacker News Reader

> Millions of people have fallen victim to drugs, painkiller abuse, alcoholism, the rise of meth and the revival of heroin.

Through all this carnage somehow the left still fights for the legalization of the gateway drug marijuana. Of course not all weed users move towards harder drugs, but it opens the door to more lethal drugs once susceptible individuals become accustomed to the highs. I have personally seen friends from college smoke weed for a couple of years and then move to coke for the better highs. Less drugs, not more would be a good step

EDIT: Its extremely well documented that marijuana usage leads to increased vulnerability for addiction to other substances. One of many research links:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/mari...

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>the gateway drug marijuana

This is a myth, and not even a good one. Alcohol has a far stronger correlation with negative outcomes than marijuana does, and having "personally seen friends" doesn't change that.

As for the childish "less drugs, not more" solution you've come up with, weed has been illegal for almost a century. It hasn't helped yet -- what do you propose? We start killing weed dealers?

Marijuana is not a gateway drug. It also offers a safer, less addictive alternative to opiates for some pain management.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5569620/

Your opinion is archaic and not supported by facts. It is the distilled ignorance of decades of drug war propaganda propped up by some anecdotes with dubious conclusions.

I only started using cannabis because I got accustomed to the highs from coffee /s

Slightly off topic, but I do sometimes experience a pleasant and relaxing, but short-lived (5-15 minute) “high” from caffeine comparable to a mild Adderrall high without the motivation drive. People I’ve spoken to about this have generally been dismissive of it as placebo or saying it is atypical - am I alone in experiencing this?

Caffeine is a stimulant. I personally feel motivational effects for hours from a single cup.

This is totally not true, and it was proven by many countries where marijuana had been legal for years without any significant changes in hard-drugs abuse. Just google for it, this is the 1st result: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/mari...

Even if I were to accept marijuana is a gateway drug anymore than alcohol or your doctor, the war on drugs has cost the US an estimated 51 billion dollars a year. Prohibition is not effective and given how dubious the “gateway” claims are I would not consider that a strong basis for continuing to waste trillions in tax payer dollars.

This is false, and there's a lot of data to support the assertion that you're wrong. Just a sample of articles covering such studies:

1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/16/legal...

2) https://drugabuse.com/legalizing-marijuana-decreases-fatal-o...

Here's data that says otherwise. Guess you are free to believe whatever data you wish.

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/mari...

Did you read that article?

These findings are consistent with the idea of marijuana as a "gateway drug." However, the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, "harder" substances. Also, cross-sensitization is not unique to marijuana. Alcohol and nicotine also prime the brain for a heightened response to other drugs52 and are, like marijuana, also typically used before a person progresses to other, more harmful substances.

It is important to note that other factors besides biological mechanisms, such as a person’s social environment, are also critical in a person’s risk for drug use. An alternative to the gateway-drug hypothesis is that people who are more vulnerable to drug-taking are simply more likely to start with readily available substances such as marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with others who use drugs increases their chances of trying other drugs. Further research is needed to explore this question.

That may have been the unfortunate case for your college friends, but that isn't the overall trend for cannabis consumers http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2017.3...

That's true, but HN tends to be more liberal so you will be downvoted though.

It's not the fault of liberals that you believe quantifiably incorrect things, but it's a convenient idealogical scapegoat to get out of learning anything helpful.

Where's the evidence?

Oh, you don't have any.

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