BF2S Forums Are tobacco and/or alcohol "gateway" drugs?

Ratzinger wrote:

Fuck I laugh when people assume that if you take hard drugs you become addicted.

"Experimenting" does not necesarily lead to addiction.

I guess the only common drugs I haven't done are PCP and crack (mainly because coke isn't as available in Australia as in US, so no crack). I'm 44 and still smoke heaps of ganja, but gave up on all the trippy stuff 'cos there was nothing left to learn from it - by the way mushies are the most intense and introspective trip, don't do them unless you are EXTREMELY comfortable with your self-image.

There were about 10 of us who had a year of dabbling with smack - 2 died, 1 still uses (a habit), the rest of us got on with life....

How so? Cause you see yourself in a weird way?

The British Government has admitted that the Marijuana isn’t a “gateway” drug.  After looking at the figures, there were so many people that did pot and never went onto anything harder that it kind of put a hole in that argument.  Besides, it is most likely that people who do convert from weed to coke/heroin do so because their dealer pushes them (i.e if it wasn’t illegal it wouldn’t happen).

In no way shape or form is alcohol/tobacco a gateway drug to heroin any more than caffeine is to booze.  On that note, caffeine is the most addictive drug in the World with 9 out of 10 adults having it everyday.  Caffeine is also more potent than most people realise; if you drink a few cups of coffee everyday and you cut it out completely you will feel ill just as an alcoholic who suddenly goes teetotal does.  Trust me, I know people who have tried it….