Do you know how gateway drugs are helpful and harmful to our mental health? And how do they work if your answer is “NO,” don’t worry? You just follow this article to get complete knowledge about what is a gateway drug.
Gateway drugs are introductory, addictive chemicals that pave the door for later, more serious drug usage. They are often gentler, more widely available drugs initially used in adolescence or young adulthood, like alcohol or marijuana. Therefore, these simple-to-obtain and simple-to-use medications acquaint adolescent users with the initial effects of intoxication. Hence, young users are believed to build confidence over time and decide.
Furthermore, the gateway effect happens when adolescent users use one substance and are more likely to try more. Most frequently, the drugs they use a second or third time are more potent and have riskier adverse effects: heroin, prescription medications, and cocaine. It is based on science. The gateway drug theory first emerged and gained popularity in the 1980s.
Researchers discovered that teenagers’ risk of using “hard” drugs, which are generally viewed as more harmful, increased when they used “soft” drugs, such as alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes. Therefore, their likelihood of later acquiring an addiction to drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, or opioids also decreased.
As you start reading the article, many questions come to your mind, like, what is a gateway drug, some common gateway drugs, does my loved one have an addiction, what new research finds, and much more.
Table of Contents
What is a gateway drug?
Any way you look at it, substance abuse poses a significant risk to a person’s well-being. Some drug classes, meanwhile, are gentler than others. It may cause some individuals to think that these medicines are safe. However, this is untrue. Research demonstrates that using “moderate” medications as a starting point for experimenting can have serious consequences. The following content will go through gateway drugs and the issues they can lead to.
Gateway drugs are less harmful chemicals that can lead to exposure to or experimentation with more harmful ones. For instance, many individuals could believe that alcohol and nicotine are relatively risk-free. The ease with which one can acquire and utilize these drugs only reinforces this notion.
In addition to being legal, these chemicals are also widely available, socially acceptable, and can generate curiosity or desire for illegal and significantly more harmful drugs. A person who abuses alcohol, prescription drugs, or marijuana also loses concern for the possible dangers of other substances. Hence, they are also quick to disregard instructions not to jeopardize their safety or well-being.
Here are some more things through which you understand more about gateway drugs:
- A background on gateway drugs
- Disputes involving gateway medications
- The theory of gateway drugs
A background on gateway drugs
The notion that drug usage might develop gradually emerged in the middle of the 20th century. According to television programs like “The Terrible Truth,” marijuana use might cause a heroin addiction. In the 1980s, researchers first used the phrase “gateway drug” to refer to substances that start these stages.
Soon after, studies were carried out. Alcohol was found to be a stepping stone to the use of more potent drugs, according to a 1985 study that was published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. Therefore, over the following three decades, research on gateway drugs exploded. Teachers have been cautioning children about the risks of gateway drugs since the 1980s.
Three potential gateway drugs, marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco, are discussed in national anti-drug initiatives like Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.). Middle school health instructors have incorporated gateway substances into their lessons. Thus, some people have started to rethink the phrase due to the controversy around the idea.
Disputes involving gateway medications
According to the New York Times, D.A.R.E. representatives now acknowledge that most marijuana users do not switch to more dangerous substances. Critics suggest that marijuana usage may deter the use of other drugs. However, there is scant reliable evidence to support that claim.
According to its detractors, the gateway drug idea is criticized for relying on animal research. They claim that the prevalence of marijuana has little impact on drug use rates in other nations. Hence, there is evidence that genetic variations present at birth may increase a person’s risk of using drugs. Because their brains are programmed to be more risk-taking, a person who uses pot may have always been more inclined to utilize hard drugs.
The theory of gateway drugs
Both proponents and detractors of the idea that some substances, like marijuana, are gateway drugs have long made this claim. Critics assert that the hypothesis is unsupported by any evidence. Therefore, they also list additional dangerous elements that can affect someone’s decision to consume illegal drugs.
Some reports support this claim. For instance, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, most teenage marijuana users stop taking the drug when they reach adulthood. Proponents cite numerous studies as evidence to support the hypothesis. Therefore, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse discovered in 2016 that youths who use gateway drugs are 266 times more likely than those who do not become addicted to cocaine.
Moreover, Based on a NIDA survey, the study also discovered that almost all cocaine users initially tried marijuana, cigarettes, or alcohol. The majority (nearly 90%) started with all three substances. According to a news statement from Columbia University, the study’s lead author, Renee Goodwin, Ph.D., “our data imply that cannabis usage appears to be related with an increased sensitivity to developing an alcohol consumption disorder, even among people without any history of this.” Marijuana usage also seems to make it more likely that an alcohol use disorder would persist over time.
In a 2017 study, scientists from Columbia University discovered that rats were considerably more inclined to seek out cocaine than rats that weren’t exposed to alcohol. The study also found genetic alterations in the rats’ brains that raised their likelihood of cocaine use, according to the study published in Science Advances. Therefore, although there is no proof that the gateway drugs idea is accurate, several tendencies support it.
Some common gateway drugs
There are some common gateway drugs which are as follows;
- Alcohol
- Marijuana
- Prescription drugs
- Nicotine
Alcohol
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that affects how well people think and move. In 2014, nearly 88 percent of individuals said they had drunk at least once in their lives, and nearly 25 percent said they had binged in the previous month. Therefore, according to the findings of numerous research, alcohol is a gateway drug.
Furthermore, according to a University of Florida study, college students who drink alcohol are 16 times more likely to take illegal drugs like cocaine and amphetamines in the future. Therefore, many students started with less harmful substances like beer or cigarettes before moving on to marijuana and subsequently more dangerous narcotics.
The findings “give further validity to the literature indicating alcohol as the gateway drug to other substance use,” study co-author Adam E. Barry told UF News. Hence, numerous studies have shown that drinking when young has an impact on drug use later in life. According to a 2016 study in the Journal of School Health, sixth graders later tried roughly two different illicit drugs.
Moreover, according to a poll conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, teenage drinkers were more likely than adults to utilize illegal drugs two hours after consuming alcohol. The majority of young drinkers used illegal substances, such as marijuana.
Marijuana
Cannabis is a drug that affects a person’s motivation, memory, attention, and learning capacity. Marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States in 2014, with more than 22 million people reporting consuming it in the previous month. Despite this, cannabis is frequently acknowledged as a gateway drug. Its connection to stronger narcotics, however, has been hotly contested.
Equally important, numerous research supports the assumption that marijuana increases a person’s tolerance to heavier substances. According to research in the International Journal of Drug Policy, approximately 45% of frequent marijuana users afterward utilized another illicit drug.
Heroin is one of those substances. According to studies, the majority of heroin addicts started out using marijuana or alcohol. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heroin misuse is three times more frequent in marijuana users than in nonusers. According to a U.S. government investigation, teenagers who smoke marijuana are more prone to try stronger substances. The Drug Enforcement Agency
Finally, another study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association indicated that marijuana usage by the age of 17 was associated with a two- to five-fold increased risk of substance misuse later in life.
In addition, the study discovered that alternative characteristics such as parental conflicts, social anxiety, and depression had little bearing on the outcomes. This is at odds with the notion that environmental variables are primarily responsible for substance misuse.
According to a study by the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, however, marijuana’s potential to serve as a gateway drug depends on a variety of variables, including employment status and other life events. Hence, it does imply a tepid correlation between marijuana use and the abuse of other illegal drugs.
Prescription drugs
Abuse of prescription medications has become very common. According to NIDA, 52 million Americans aged 12 and older have never used prescription medications for medical purposes. The most abused prescription medicines are opioids. Further, heroin use is associated with prescription medicines. Heroin is a synthetic opioid that can be used with prescription medications like fentanyl to produce a stronger high.
Since many prescription medications have effects comparable to those of heroin, many opioid abusers have switched to heroin. Nor, these compounds are quite hazardous. In recent years, hundreds of overdose deaths have been connected to heroin and fentanyl. According to the CDC, opioid users are 40 times more likely to abuse heroin than nonusers.
In contrast, heroin addiction was twice as frequent in alcohol addicts as it was in nonusers. Heroin usage was three times as likely in marijuana users. Additionally, according to NIDA, nearly half of teenage heroin users reported misusing prescription opioids before using the drug. In reality, heroin is often chosen by opiate addicts because it is a less expensive alternative.
Ritalin, a prescription drug used to treat ADHD in children, has been connected to cocaine use. As stimulants, both medications raise alertness and productivity. Both raise dopamine levels and share comparable characteristics. According to Utah’s Genetics Science Learning Center, past Ritalin users are consequently more prone to cocaine misuse
Nicotine
That is, researchers have known for a long time that tobacco products are a gateway to other substances. In 2011, researchers gave rats water that had been tainted with nicotine for seven days. The findings, which were reported in Science Translational Medicine, showed that the animals responded to cocaine more strongly afterward.
The study also discovered that nicotine raised levels of FosB, a gene associated with cocaine addiction in the brain. According to researchers, people who have the gene can experience a similar effect, and children are especially vulnerable.
Some other gateway drugs
Numerous chemicals, both legal and illegal, have the potential to behave as gateway drugs by raising dopamine levels.
- Inhalants
- Ecstasy
- Anabolic Steroids
- Energy Drinks
Inhalants
The National Inhalant Prevention Coalition discovered in a 2008 report that many 12- and 13-year-olds who misuse inhalants like glue or shoe polish go on to abuse illicit drugs. Findings showed that among 593,000 people who used inhalants, 21% had used marijuana or prescription medications the year before.
Ecstasy
According to research in the Annals of Epidemiology, ecstasy could serve as a starting point for users to progress to cocaine and methamphetamine. The poly-drug culture of the rave scene is partially to blame for this. Early Ecstasy use raises the possibility of subsequent use of stronger drugs.
Anabolic steroids
Steroid users run the chance of developing an opioid addiction. According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, 9% of opioid-dependent patients at a neighboring treatment facility had previously used steroids. Before using steroids, none of the patients had a drug addiction.
Energy drinks
Caffeine, which is abundant in energy drinks, boosts vitality and alertness. According to research in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, youths who use energy drinks are two to three times more likely than those who don’t to experiment with illegal drugs. Amphetamines and marijuana were popular options.
Does my loved one have an addiction?
Do you worry about a relative or close friend? If so, it’s critical to learn about the following addiction warning signals. There are behavioral, psychological, and physical markers to watch out for when it comes to what to look for. Here are a few instances:
- Physical symptoms
- Psychiatric symptoms
- Behavioral indicators
Physical symptoms
Addiction’s “physical symptoms” are how the illness presents itself in terms of how the body looks and functions. These signs are by far the simplest to identify. Following are some typical physical signs to watch out for
- Sudden changes in weight, such as a quick loss of weight or a rise
- Alterations in daily routines like sleep or appetite
- Eyes that are bloodshot or have abnormally big or narrow pupils
- Decrease in personal grooming or physical appearance
- Eerie odors emanating from the body, clothing, or breath
- Decreased coordination, slurred speech, or tremors
Psychiatric symptoms
Addiction-related psychological alterations arise when the brain’s chemical composition alters. A person may act in ways they have never acted before as a result of this. If you have known that individual for a long time, you will probably start to notice these changes in their mental state very fast. What to watch out for includes
- A lack of motivation, particularly given that they have historically been extremely motivated
- Unusual or weird hyperactive spells
- Mood fluctuations that come on suddenly, such as impatience or furious outbursts
- Appearing unmotivated, apprehensive, worried, or even paranoid
- Unexpected personality or attitude changes
- Giddiness or agitation
Behavioral indicators
It may be a symptom of an addiction if you observe changes in how someone goes about their everyday activities or even in how they behave when performing routine, unremarkable duties. Keep a watch out for any of the following behavioral changes, even if they may be harder to see than physical ones:
- A shift in how well you do at work or school
- Missing more than usual from work or school
- Unjustified financial difficulties or a desire for money
- Acting shadily or in a suspicious manner
- Friends, favorite hangouts, and hobbies suddenly alter
- Getting into trouble a lot while having no prior background
Why are gateway substances dangerous?
A gateway drug is a drug that encourages the usage of a stronger one. Cannabis has been called a “gateway drug” because users frequently go to heavier substances that produce stronger euphoric effects. Another pair of gateway drugs is alcohol and nicotine. Many teenagers start with alcohol and tobacco before moving on to more dangerous drugs. The safety of marijuana has been the subject of continuing discussion.
Some people hold this belief because withdrawal symptoms are tolerable after discontinuing marijuana use. Actually, due to its negative effects on the body and brain, marijuana is a class one drug. Additionally, other substances that are frequently combined with marijuana affect the high the user experiences. Unexpectedly, mixing marijuana with embalming fluid is becoming more and more popular among some users.
Cannabis users seeking a novel and distinctive high are becoming more and more drawn to embalming fluid. Joann Loviglio (2018) wrote in an article for ABCNews that “The high that consumers experience depends on what they’re truly experiencing. When users request embalming fluid, they frequently receive it laced with phencyclidine (PCP).
Effects of embalming fluid include visual and auditory hallucinations, euphoria, a sensation of invincibility, improved pain tolerance, rage, forgetfulness, and paranoia, according to 1998 research by the Texas commission on drug abuse. Therefore, harder drugs frequently begin with gateway substances.
Cannabis users are more likely to use cocaine, heroin, or medications. Finally, young teens frequently experiment with marijuana and alcohol, which can lead to addiction to both substances. Vaping is a popular substitute for smoking cigarettes or inhaling cigarette smoke among teenagers and young adults. Although there are fewer chemicals used in vaping, nicotine, the addictive component found in cigarettes and other tobacco products, is still present.
E-cigarette use is widespread among young people as well. Battery-powered gadgets that resemble cigarettes, pipes, etc. are called e-cigarettes. The liquid that contains nicotine in the e-cigarettes heats up and vaporizes. Alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana are all addictive substances that can have fatal consequences. You are not alone if you or a loved one is struggling with addiction. Get support now.
Information on gateway drugs
- Smokers who start using tobacco in their teens or even younger are up to 100 times more likely to start using marijuana. These same individuals are also noticeably more prone than non-smokers to experiment with illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin.
- Twenty percent of adolescents and young adults who have used marijuana three to ten times go on to use cocaine. 75% of those who have used marijuana 100 times or more go on to use cocaine.
- Smokers of marijuana who first used the drug before turning 17 had a six times higher risk of being addicted to drugs.
- Teenagers who drink heavily, defined as having at least five drinks on five separate occasions over 30 days are 12 times more likely to use illegal drugs than those who abstain from alcohol.
- 90% or more of cocaine users first used marijuana, cigarettes, or alcohol.
What new research finds?
In a recent study supported by the and reported in Science Advances, it was shown that rats who had been primed with alcohol over time were far more likely to continue pressing a lever that gave them access to cocaine (even when doing so resulted in an electric shock) than rats who hadn’t. Alcohol use also caused molecular alterations in the brains of rats that increased their susceptibility to cocaine dependence and addiction.
Rats and humans have significant neurological similarities, hence the findings of this study should be taken into account in the discussion of gateway medications.
In general, it is conceivable for someone to use alcohol or nicotine without also experimenting with stronger drugs like heroin or cocaine. Many people smoke or drink recreationally without developing a drug addiction. Monitoring the use of gateway substances is crucial, especially for teenagers.
According to research by DrugRehab.com and the Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse at Columbia, both youth and adults utilize gateway drugs:
- It is 266 times more likely for teenagers who use gateway drugs to develop a cocaine addiction than for those who don’t.
- Cocaine usage is 50 times more prevalent in children who drink than in those who don’t.
- Cocaine usage in adulthood is six times more prevalent among people who consumed alcohol as children.
- The majority of cocaine users had already tried marijuana, cigarettes, or alcohol; over 90% had done so.
For adults or teenagers who are abusing gateway substances, outpatient treatment may be helpful. For adults or teenagers who have started using harsher drugs like cocaine or heroin, detoxification and inpatient treatment may be necessary.
Conclusion
There is evidence that early exposure to some chemicals increases the likelihood that a person may abuse other substances, although the cause of this is not fully understood. This disorder might be caused by a mix of inherited (genetic, for example) and environmental variables acting in concert (e.g., peers, learning, stress, etc.).
The strongest evidence suggests that alcohol may be a gateway drug when there is a connection between early alcohol use and later drug use, although the gateway theory has some possible methodological weaknesses. Therefore, It is now impossible to pinpoint a causal link between the early use of any substance and the likelihood of later using or abusing other drugs. These connections may instead be more in line with the common responsibility model.
