False. Tobacco and alcohol are gateway drugs. The majority of those who use cannabis do not abuse street-filth drugs. Robitussin is more a gateway than cannabis.

I don't know where you got those facts but they definitely aren't true. Sure, it can be argued that alcohol and tobacco are gateway drugs as well. But the fact is weed develops unhealthy habits and you can't be blind enough to not admit that much.

Oh? Would you care to share these unhealthy habits that a mere flower imparts? As for my data, you, yourself, can do the same research I did. You can start at www.norml.org, and follow up with the AMA, the Journal of Neural Medicine, or any number of other resources. Another good one is visiting a youth correctional facility. Go ahead and ask everyone there what they started with. The majority will tell you they stole their parents cigarettes and alcohol, or snuck more cough medicine, or benadryl, than indicated in the instructions, due to the way it made them feel. From there, they continue on to any number of substances, though many of them [i]skip[/i] cannabis entirely, because, "compared to anything else, it doesn't do much." I spent a year with those kids. I could tell you some serious horror stories. Pot is, by and large, harmless.

I agree with you. All of those things can lead to harder substances. I never said they don't; in fact, I already said that they could be considered a gateway drug. With that said, it is fact that marijuana increases the probability of one moving on to harder, more dangerous substances (https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/marijuana/marijuana-gateway-drug). Also, specifically, the bad habits of which I was referring is mainly the daily recreational use of marijuana. Which, without a doubt, causes one to lose focus on the job or at the wheel. Obviously I'm not saying that everyone that uses marijuana uses it every day or that marijuana will make everyone a reckless driver or a worse employee. Hopefully you can see the point I'm making and realize that in no way am I attacking marijuana users. I simply hope you understand the point I am making in that marijuana can be a gateway drug, and in many cases, develops unhealthy habits.

I do understand, and I appreciate your objectivity. I see that, under a specific set of circumstances, it can become a problem. The problem with blaming cannabis, however, lies in the fact that it has no physically addictive properties. It can make certain aspects of an individual's personality more pronounced. Some people do tend to become lazy good-for-nothings, however, I have met an equal number who are inspired by it, who create phenomenal art, who are absorbed into their work, who are infinitely more productive. Therefore, I'm led to believe that the problem lies with the individual, not the substance, in this case.

I agree with you 100%. Everything comes down to the individual.

[quote]Ok first here; This is why weed is illegal; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_history_of_cannabis_in_the_United_States https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=criminalization+of+marijuana&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ved=0CBoQgQMwAGoVChMI29SLysPJyAIVxVU-Ch3MwgKV http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/dope/etc/cron.html http://www.drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place http://www.drugwarrant.com/articles/why-is-marijuana-illegal/ That should cover [b][i][u]every angle[/u][/i][/b] It has [b][i][u]nothing to do with smoking it[/u][/i][/b] It was first made illegal in 1930s-1940s due to the fact a few monopolies and the [b][i][u]entire oil industry[/u][/i][/b] feared the plant's natural and freely available and easily obtainable resource uses; Would threaten their products use and necessities and that marijuana would then replace their products uses in our industrialized world. So they ran a smear campaign of propaganda and lobbied congress to get the plant criminalized and prohibited. This worked so well that almost 85+ years later [b][i][u]people still believe it is illegal due to it being an addictive controlled intoxicant[/u][/i][/b] Yes it gets you high; Guess what; [b][i][u]unlike the reporting of the federal commission on the war on drugs; it is NOT ADDICTIVE and has nearly no negative side effects when consumed properly; you CANT even overdose on it! [/u][/i][/b] Also the plant has a [b][i][u]multitude[/u][/i][/b] of functional [b][i][u]industrial USES[/u][/i][/b] original post says [b][i][u]USE[/u][/i][/b] not [b][i][u]Smoking[/u][/i][/b] Stop being sheep believing in lies told for 80 [b][i][u]DAMN YEARS[/u][/i][/b] by the monopolies, the oil industry, the commission started by president Ronald Regan of The War Against Drugs! [b][i][u]ITS ALL PROPAGANDA AND SPINN[/u][/i][/b] FURTHERMORE; [b][i][u]nearly every single Rx prescription drug [/u][/i][/b] is [b][i][u]addictive[/u][/i][/b] and has [b][i][u]severely bad side effects[/u][/i][/b] and [b][i][u]you can overdose and die from most of them[/u][/i][/b] So please; Stop thinking weed means 420 and Smoke or cancer medicine only Fact is [b][i][u]from your clothes to paper to the fuel AND lubricants in any piece of heavy machinery[/u][/i][/b]---> all of those can be made from or run on by a cheap as F*ck plant [b][i][u]ANY ONE[/u][/i][/b] could grow in their back yard! (Also the declaration of independence and US constitution are written on [b][i][u]HEMP PAPER![/u][/i][/b]) Edit; People who smoke weed and turn into lazy stupid dumb scumbags do that because of their lifestyle and life choices; its not due to weed; they would end up listening to junk music and being lazy scrubs even with out the weed; Stop blaming weed for that pls[/quote] Gateway drug= [b][i][u]PROPAGANDA[/u][/i][/b]

Your response is completely irrelevant. I never said anything about weed being bad for you or even that it should be illegal (even though I think it should). All I'm saying is that it develops unhealthy habits and often leads to worse things.

Any drug can make you want to try another drug?