DRUG BUSTS

STUDY FINDS POT NOT A GATEWAY DRUG

GREEN STATE PROJECT - Marijuana is not a "gateway" drug that predicts or
eventually leads to substance abuse, suggests a 12-year University of
Pittsburgh study. Moreover, the study's findings call into question the
long-held belief that has shaped prevention efforts and governmental
policy for six decades and caused many a parent to panic upon
discovering a bag of pot in their child's bedroom. . .

The Pitt researchers tracked 214 boys beginning at ages 10-12, all of
whom eventually used either legal or illegal drugs. When the boys
reached age 22, they were categorized into three groups: those who used
only alcohol or tobacco, those who started with alcohol and tobacco and
then used marijuana (gateway sequence) and those who used marijuana
prior to alcohol or tobacco (reverse sequence).

Nearly a quarter of the study population who used both legal and illegal
drugs at some point - 28 boys - exhibited the reverse pattern of using
marijuana prior to alcohol or tobacco, and those individuals were no
more likely to develop a substance use disorder than those who followed
the traditional succession of alcohol and tobacco before illegal drugs,
according to the study, which appears in this month's issue of the
American Journal of Psychiatry. . .

While the gateway theory posits that each type of drug is associated
with certain specific risk factors that cause the use of subsequent
drugs, such as cigarettes or alcohol leading to marijuana, this study's
findings indicate that environmental aspects have stronger influence on
which type of substance is used. That is, if it's easier for a teen to
get his hands on marijuana than beer, then he'll be more likely to smoke
pot. This evidence supports what's known as the common liability model,
an emerging theory that states the likelihood that someone will
transition to the use of illegal drugs is determined not by the
preceding use of a particular drug but instead by the user's individual
tendencies and environmental circumstances.

http://www.greenstateproject.com/2006/12/06/12-year-study-marijuana-not-
repeat-not-a-gateway-drug/

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POT USE UP 4000% SINCE IT WAS OUTLAWED

MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT - A new report from the Marijuana Policy
Project challenges the key assumption underlying present U.S. marijuana
laws: that marijuana must be prohibited for adults in order to deter
teens from using it. Some findings:

-- Marijuana prohibition has not prevented a dramatic increase in
marijuana use by teenagers. In fact, the overall rate of marijuana use
in the U.S. has risen by roughly 4,000% since marijuana was first
outlawed.

-- Independent studies by RAND Europe and the U.S. National Research
Council have reported that marijuana prohibition appears to have little
or no impact on rates of use.

-- Since Britain ended most marijuana possession arrests in 2004, the
rate of marijuana use by 16- to-19-year-olds has dropped.

-- In the U.S., rates of teen marijuana use in states that have
decriminalized adult marijuana possession are statistically equal to the
rates in states that have retained criminal penalties.

-- In the Netherlands, where adults have been allowed to possess and
purchase small amounts of marijuana since 1976, the rate of marijuana
use by adults and teens is lower than in the U.S., and teen use of
cocaine and amphetamines is far lower than in the U.S. Indeed, some
researchers believe it is the prohibition of marijuana that causes
progression to hard drug use, sometimes called the "gateway effect."

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