Have you heard that “marijuana is a gateway drug?” This is true for many reasons. One reason is because opioids (i.e. heroin, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, fentanyl, etc…) and cannabinoids (i.e. Delta9 THC - one of the cannabinoids found in marijuana that intoxicants, and all the other cannabinoids in the plant) run on the same “super family” of neural processors in the brain - “G-Protein Receptors.” If the use of marijuana primes your particular brain to want more (it doesn’t prime all brains), opioids like heroin may be “the more” you turn to - as the gateway has been opened and primed.
Additionally, the use of marijuana to soothe, handle stress, amplify joy, encourage social behavior all set-up behavioral addiction - one is training themselves to administer marijuana to achieve these things. This is true for all things that spike dopamine in the brain, especially intoxicating drugs.
With a broader understanding of addiction, drugs that intoxicate and brain science today however, we now consider the 3 majors as gateway drugs for adolescents:
MARIJUANA, ALCOHOL & NICOTINE
All 3 of these drugs are addictive and teen brains are especially vulnerable to their harm - all 3 affect brain plasticity and proper neural function.
These drugs are readily available to adolescents. The legal status of these drugs makes them more available than illegal drugs in general, and therefore more available to the under-aged. Legalization always means more underage access and use.
Statistically we now find that the use of one of these substances increases the use of the other two as well as other illicit drugs. Conversely, the absence of using one, reflects significantly less use of the others. See this staggeringly impressive data below from the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)*
“Binge” drinking = 5 drinks within 2 hours (males) or 4 drinks within 2 hours (females) ”Heavy” Alcohol use = 4-5 “binge” events in past 30 days ”Alcohol” use = less than the first two, but still in the past 30 days
