[Hoot Gibson]

The only thing that makes marijuana a gateway drug is the fact that the same dealers that peddle pot, peddle the other drugs. If it is made legal, and available, without dealers pushing the harder stuff, the gateway goes away. There is nothing with pot, in and of it's self, that makes it a gateway drug, other than the "dealer" part. What makes a drug a gateway drug is if continued use weakens it's effect on people, and they look for something to get that "high" back. After years of smoking pot, you still get the same high, therefore, it isn't a gateway drug in it's self.

What makes marijuana a gateway drug is that smoking it is against the law. Once one decides that it is okay to break the law to get high on one illegal drug, it is easier to justify breaking the law to get high on another. When marijuana use becomes legal, then the part of the thrill that some get in breaking the law will be gone, except for those who are under age and buyin it illegally. Like I said, the fact that not everybody chooses to step through the marijuana gate to use harder drugs does not mean that it is not a gateway drug.

Dealers only offer products that are in demand and the demand for more potent drugs will not go away when marijuana becomes legal. As long as people want to numb their senses and impair their judgment with drugs, there will be dealers to meet the demand, legal or not.