{"id":1357,"date":"2016-10-27T09:58:04","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T16:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/?p=1357"},"modified":"2016-10-27T09:19:15","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T16:19:15","slug":"marijuana-not-gateway-drug-attorney-general","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dispensaries.com\/blog\/marijuana-not-gateway-drug-attorney-general\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Marijuana a Gateway Drug? Attorney General Says No"},"content":{"rendered":"

For many years, cannabis opponents demonized marijuana as a gateway drug that lead to the use of much \u201charder\u201d substances. However, that thinking has undergone a serious change in recent years.<\/p>\n

The latest example came from U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. In a recent speech to high school students in Kentucky, Lynch said publicly what some studies already have shown. Marijuana is not a gateway drug.<\/p>\n

Lynch went further than that, pointing to the real gateway drug in many households: prescription medications.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn so many cases, it isn\u2019t trafficking rings that introduce a person to opioids. It\u2019s the household medicine cabinet. That\u2019s the source,\u201d Lynch told students, according to SF Gate<\/a>, the sister website to the San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n

The Real Gateway Drug<\/h2>\n

Marijuana legalization continues to spread across the country. Along with it, so does the sense of responsibility among cannabis advocates to teach people the safe way to use marijuana. But at the same time, addiction to prescription drugs has been on the rise.<\/p>\n

Lynch talked at a town hall meeting with high school students in Kentucky. There, Lynch talked more about the danger of prescription drugs than the gateway drug potential of cannabis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that if you tend to experiment with a lot of things in life, you may be inclined to experiment with drugs, as well. But it\u2019s not like we\u2019re seeing that marijuana is a specific gateway,\u201d Lynch said.<\/p>\n

Her comments have special resonance in the Bluegrass State. Kentucky currently faces a widespread problem with heroin abuse. The abuse is particularly heavy in northern Kentucky and the cities of Louisville and Lexington, according to the state\u2019s Office of Drug Control Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

National Institute of Drug Abuse Study<\/h3>\n

Lynch\u2019s comments to the students reflect the findings of a National Institute of Drug Abuse study<\/a>. This study\u00a0stated that \u201cthe majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, harder, substances.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study notes that marijuana can \u201cprime the brain for a heightened response to other drugs.\u201d But, it also concluded that the same can be said of alcohol and nicotine.<\/p>\n

The study noted that other factors play a role in whether people move on to more harmful substances. Factors such as social environment, can impact substance abuse after using marijuana, alcohol or nicotine.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn 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 like marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with other substance users increases their chances of trying other drugs,\u201d the study stated. \u201cFurther research is needed to explore this question.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both the study\u2019s findings and Lynch\u2019s comments indicate that experts have started to change their views on marijuana. This comes just as more and more voters across the country indicate their acceptance of cannabis<\/a> in the voting booth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marijuana has long been touted by the opposition as a gateway drug. But the U.S. Attorney General says it’s not marijuana that’s the real gateway drug. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":1360,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[115,83,87,58],"yoast_head":"\nIs Marijuana a Gateway Drug? U.S. Attorney General Says No<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Marijuana has long been touted by the opposition as a gateway drug. 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