gateway drugs
First steps downward
Gateway drugs are substances believed to lead users toward harder, more dangerous drugs.
The theory holds that experimentation with marijuana, alcohol, or tobacco opens a path to cocaine, heroin, or other serious addictions.
The term appears frequently in anti-drug education: Marijuana is often called a gateway drug.
Critics dispute the causal claim, noting that correlation between early and later drug use doesn't prove one causes the other.
- slippery slopeArgument predicting inevitable escalation
- addictionsUncontrollable substance dependencies
- narcoticsDrugs inducing sleep, numbness
- marijuanaPsychoactive hemp plant
- peer pressureInfluence from one's equals
bad influence · alcohol · early intervention · precursors · underage drinking · substance abuse · stepping stone · nicotine addiction · intoxication · risk factors · hallucinogens · withdrawal symptoms · chemical dependency · introduction · cannabis · e-cigarettes · vaping · experimentation
- substance abuseaddiction, abuse, alcohol abuse, substance use, substance misuse
- substance educationhealth class, youth education, harm reduction, binge drinking, underage drinking
- addictionaddiction, substance abuse, substance dependency, substance use disorder, alcoholism
gateway drugshard drugs
Potent, addictive illegal substances
heroin · crack cocaine · fentanyl · methamphetamine · opioids
gateway drugsmaintenance drugs
Regularly taken prescriptions
harm reduction · methadone · suboxone · therapeutic drugs · rehabilitation
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