Alcohol named as worse ‘gateway’ drug than cannabis
the drinks business
By Steven Green
August 17, 2016
Cannabis is often credited as being the worst gateway drug into stronger things, but a new study has shown that alcohol is much worse.
Based on a collection of charts on decades of drug use in the United States – shown off on the website of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, it has now been confirmed that cannabis has perhaps been getting some rather unfair labelling.
The Brian C Bennett Drug charts have traced the pattern of use of the drug for more than 40 years now, which has recently been fronted by William Martin, director of the Baker Institute’s Drug Policy Program.
“Marijuana’s reputation as a ‘gateway’ drug is not supported, even for more marijuana use. More than half of respondents under 60 have used it during their lifetime, but fewer than 10 percent use it regularly, said Martin.
“Far fewer people progress to harder drugs. Current monthly use of cocaine is 0.6 percent; for heroin and methamphetamines, only 0.2 percent.
“Alcohol causes far more personal and social damage than any other drug. Illegal drugs comprise less than 20 percent of substance-use disorders in the U.S.”