Risk of marijuana's 'gateway effect' overblown, new UNH research
shows DURHAM, N.H. – New research from the University of New
Hampshire shows that the "gateway effect" of marijuana – that
teenagers who use marijuana are more likely to move on to harder
illicit drugs as young adults – is overblown. Whether teenagers
who smoked pot will use other illicit drugs as young adults has
more to do with life factors such as employment status and
stress, according to the new research. In fact, the strongest
predictor of whether someone will use other illicit drugs is
their race/ethnicity, not whether they ever used marijuana.
Conducted by UNH associate professors of sociology Karen Van
Gundy and Cesar Rebellon, the research appears in the September
2010, issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior in the
article, "A Life-course Perspective on the 'Gateway Hypothesis.'
" "In light of these findings, we urge U.S. drug control
policymakers to consider stress and life-course approaches in
their pursuit of solutions t