Pubdate: Thu, 24 Apr 2008
Source: Flor-Ala, The (AL Edu)
Copyright: 2008, University of North Alabama
Contact: http://www.florala.net/main.cfm?include=submit
Website: http://www.florala.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2820
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n402/a03.html
Author: Dawn Palmer

READER RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S 'WEED AND GREED' ARTICLE

In a recent article drug task force officer Chuck Hearn said that 
marijuana is kind of a gateway drug and he believed marijuana leads 
to other destructive substances.

He said that many of the hard drug addicts he encounters, such as 
cocaine users, started smoking marijuana in their early teens.

I bet if we were to ask those same people did they smoke cigarettes 
or drink alcohol before they started doing hard drugs like cocaine 
they would say yes.

The gateway theory is just a "theory." I read a book entitled "Mother 
of All Gateway Drugs" by John Newmeyer, Ph.D. in which he states: "if 
we really want to look at what is the mother of all gateway drugs, 
its sugar. Did you ever give a baby a drink of soda or some ice 
cream? You can hardly pry it out of their hands."

We're going to have to come up with something better than the 
"gateway theory" for us to have a reason to be arresting someone 
every forty seconds.

Dawn Palmer
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake