cannabisnews.com: Study Finds No Cannabis Link To Hard Drugs Study Finds No Cannabis Link To Hard Drugs Posted by FoM on December 17, 2001 at 13:13:21 PT Editorial Source: Sunday Times Cannabis does not lead to the use of hard drugs, a study will say this week. The survey, based on drug users in Amsterdam over a 10-year period, will be seized upon by advocates of more liberal laws in Britain, writes David Smith. It shows that cannabis users typically start using the drug between the ages of 18 and 20, while cocaine use usually starts between 20 and 25. But it concludes that cannabis is not a stepping stone to using cocaine or heroin. The study, by Jan van Ours of Tilburg University in the Netherlands, will be published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research in London. Four surveys, covering nearly 17,000 people, were carried out in Amsterdam in 1987, 1990, 1994 and 1997. Amsterdam has 5,000 hard drug users, 3,000 of them non-Dutch nationals, among its population of 700,000 and a much larger proportion of cannabis users. There are 300 “coffee shops” in the city where cannabis is freely available. The study claims that most of the evidence that cannabis is a gateway to the use of harder drugs is circumstantial. It found that there was little difference in the probability of an individual taking up cocaine as to whether or not he or she had used cannabis. “The gateway effect of cannabis with respect to cocaine is limited,” it concludes. Although significant numbers of people in the survey did use soft and hard drugs, this was linked with personal characteristics and a predilection to experimentation. “It is clear from this study that the liberal attitude towards soft drugs does not have the detrimental effect of eventually stimulating the consumption of hard drugs,” van Ours said. The debate about legalising or decriminalising cannabis has intensified in recent weeks. In October David Blunkett, the home secretary, told the home affairs committee that he was reclassifying cannabis so that possession of it would no longer be an arrestable offence. Keith Hellawell, the government’s former drugs czar, attacked the decision, insisting that every heroin user was a former user of cannabis. The government is still proceeding cautiously on cannabis. Last week, in response to a Lords report on the therapeutic use of cannabis, it called for further research into the benefits. Source: Sunday Times (UK)Published: Sunday, December 16, 2001Copyright: 2001 Times Newspapers Ltd.Contact: editor sunday-times.co.ukWebsite: http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/Related Articles:Cannabis Could Cure - Wall Street Journalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11398.shtmlCannabis Use Does Not Lead To Heroin http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10193.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #12 posted by Mike3656 on December 19, 2001 at 09:36:31 PT: There will always..... No matter what you do, there will always be pot. The people and the government have got to see that this is a plant!!!! God put all plants on earth for a reason. Some people intake more than they should, and others do it everyday. I would rather smoke and drive then to drink and drive. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Krewcheif on December 19, 2001 at 08:45:39 PT Gateway Drugs... If alcohol is considered a drug, why is it not considered a gateway drug? I can safely say that all pot smokers I know drank alcohol before that became smokers. You can probably also say that most people doing "harder" drugs drank before as well. ALCOHOL IS A GATEWAY DRUG DAMMIT!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by madfactor on December 19, 2001 at 06:54:53 PT: Fear the evil, evil weed! So marijuana isn't a gateway drug? Wow! I never knew this! Ans here I was wondering when I would suddenly get the urge to ditch pot and become a cocaine addict! Honestly, as it stands, the only thing smoking pot has led me to is drinking more. Why? Because I can get a 40 from the UDF in five minutes, where it takes me about a week to secure an eighth for myself. Yes, thanks to the messed up policies of the US government, I am totally free from the corrupting elements of weed, but I'm allowed to become a raging alcoholic anytime I choose. Not to mention a nicotine fiend. If I could get marijuana as easily as a fifth of gin, I don't think I'd ever have a reason to drink again. I apologize in advance for my rambling diatribe, but when I'm drunk, I get all opinionated. Too bad I can't get any herb, or this post would've never been here. FARK [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by spokk on December 18, 2001 at 06:13:54 PT there is a link between cannabis and hard drugs. the law considers cannabis and heroin as equal. anti-MJ politicians, public and corporations, responsible for these laws, maintain this link. their false view is a bigger threat than that of the whole narcotic industry. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by FoM on December 17, 2001 at 18:26:01 PT Gateway Theory I firmly believe that Cannabis can be a stepping stone off of hard drugs or alcohol use. The only reason that people often would try a hard drug years ago was because it was easier for somone to smuggle pills or powders then bulky Cannabis. When they first started using dogs they were only able to detect Cannabis. Cannabis became scare but hard drugs didn't. That's what I remember. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by mayan on December 17, 2001 at 18:08:54 PT Lies Drop Like Flies We all knew the "gateway theory" was a bunch of bunk & here's yet another study which proves us right! The lies of the anti's are dropping like flies & soon they will have no ammunition to deceive the masses. The light of the truth will find it's way through the darkness somehow, some way. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by entropy on December 17, 2001 at 18:06:55 PT: another prohibitionist lie bites the dust... I find it encouraging to see good science every once in a while... Spreading knowledge about this and debunking the multitude of other drug warrior propaganda myths must become a priority... the mainstream media won't get the word out, they know what time it is.peace. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by Dark Star on December 17, 2001 at 18:00:48 PT Most Places 'cept Here It is the beginning of the end of Prohibition, folks, leastwise most places 'cept here.Cannabis will be a licenced medicine in the UK one year from now. Watch for it. Europe will soon follow, as will Canada.Amerika will drags its feet and continue to bust therapeutic users.We need to put this info in the faces of every politician with reminders that the old B.S. will not fly, it will only rot. When the dominoes fall, we want to be in front of the line, not in left field and out of reach. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by goneposthole on December 17, 2001 at 17:41:56 PT less beer I would definitely invade a country if they demanded less beer. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by puff_tuff on December 17, 2001 at 17:14:24 PT Therapeutic Uses of Cannabis Prepared 14 December 2001 Government Response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology's Report on Therapeutic Uses of Cannabis Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Health by Command of Her Majesty, December 2001 http://www.official-documents.co.uk/document/cm53/5332/5332.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by E_Johnson on December 17, 2001 at 16:53:12 PT Not even legal hard drugs I just had surgery and the nurses were so amazed by how I hardly needed any morphine. I was taking Marinol. Since I needed so little morphine, my bowels started working faster and I got out of the hospital earlier. Now to the health industry bean counters, this has to make sense. Less morphine, fewer days. Like this is so the right time for a national THC scare. The DEA is being run by lunatics and scoundrels.I guess the people who sell legal narcotics have something to fear from marijuana. What if all surgical patients needed less morphine? It's the same kind of question as what if all football fans needed less beer.Countries have been invaded for less compelling reasons.That's why marijuana is a war, and not just an issue. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on December 17, 2001 at 15:09:36 PT link the only link that is connects cannabis to hard drugs is this: Anyone who uses cannabis certainly has very little interest in hard drugs. I may be wrong, but I do not think so. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment