As I sit here in trim jail , I realize that My first experience with partying was with alcohol which led to exposure to other things. I assume others share that experience (passing a bottle of mad dawg and someone whips out a joint).
So shouldn’t the government come clean and declare that alcohol is the true gateway drug.
Cigarettes.
Although gateway is a bit of a misnomer.
When I was growing up in L.A, weed was far easier for a young teen to obtain than alcohol. To get booze you had find someone to buy it for you. To get weed all you had to do was go to school.
I chose the easier path.
The primary reason to go to school.
If you’re smoking weed and someone offers you cocaine, you’ll probably decline.
If you’re half in the bag, partying hard and someone offers you cocaine, you’ll probably try.
I’m currently on fentanyl…not so much by choice…surgery yesterday. Cancer survivor overnight.
I’m going to say sugar is the true gateway drug
I think weed was declared a gateway drug because anyone who tried it might want to try other highly controlled drugs. This is because the laws and controversial hype surrounding cannabis do not reflect any true health hazards. Anyone who believed the governments negative spin about cannabis but then tried weed might conclude that weed is not harmful and therefore might be compelled to try -other- controlled drugs once they realize that the government’s hard-line drug policy does not truly reflect any sort of sensibility. So: because the government lied to everyone about the supposed dangers of weed, casting weed as an equivalent to the most dangerous and deadly of drugs, anyone who tries weed would reasonably conclude that any schedule 1 drug is as safe as weed to consume. I know that once I tried weed and realized it was not as dangerous as alcohol, a determination I could make as a high schooler 
, I was more open to trying LSD because I then understood that the government had crafted these laws out of their fear of people affecting changes which go against the status quo…which is what these drugs make people do: change. 
agreed 
Congrats brother, never give up! 
The most convincing argument I heard on the matter: pot is a gateway to hard drugs because they share the same black market infrastructure.
You go to a bar or a store and buy a beer, you (used to) go thru black market to score pot. It’s turned into a strong argument for legalization.
I have had problems drinking. Never on weed.
Cigs if gateway drugs exist (I don’t think the concept is valid). I definitely drank before smoking pot but cigs were first by a long shot.
Not sure about now but the general consensus for clueless drug counselors at schools in the 90s was that huffing things was the first thing kids did and that no kid could possibly skip the huffing phase to get to smoking pot, which was level 2. It was both embarrassing and infuriating that it was assumed I was huffing things when I started getting in trouble but I also had to deny and couldn’t yell what I wanted to which was “I’m smoking pot you fucktards, do you really think so little of me that you believe I’m huffing glade?!” .
I concur.
Sugar is the gateway, then caffeine, then alcohol and/or black market drugs. This seems accurate for my peer group. With easier access to recreational cannabis I wonder how this might change for younger generations…
my whole if if ive been told it was not good for you or out of bounds i was definanatly there to give it a go 
being told no you cant or shouldnt do it has always been my gateway no matter what
I’d say tobacco is the #1 gateway drug, how many non smoking drug users do you know?
Pot because it introduces you to black market, at least for my generation
Yeah but alcohol might as well be the black market when you’re underage. It teaches you to sneak around, acquire a substance you’re not legally allowed to possess or use, and hide intoxication for fear of getting caught.
They’re all potential gateway drugs, and none of them are guaranteed to be. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, no matter how much the politicians want to reduce us all to the least common denominator so they can implement the proper structures for perfect control of a perfectly happy population.
Heard another good theory too. Not really a gateway, more a funneling by the system.
Drug testing is the funnel. Anyone that gets drug tested knows the schedule…
Cannabis: 35-45 days
Cocaine: 3 days
Opiates: 3 days
Meth: 3 days
Basically the theory posits that students who play sports, military & MOST employees get drug tested
So when they use drugs, they are encouraged to try the faster “clearing” & more dangerous drugs in order to avoid detection.