Amy Adams argues that cannabis is a gateway drug for meth. Amy Adams is an idiot. It is not …
What is true however, and what the minister in charge of prohbition needs to realise, urgently, is that prohibition of cannabis is a gateway policy in encouraging production and dristribution of meth – Milton Friedman pointing out many years ago when the War on Drugs was born that prohibiting all drugs encourages drug suppliers to supply and produce the most potent and toxic drugs per kilo. (You know, if you’re going to carry risky illegal substances around as a supplier, then you’re better to carry around less in quantity but the most potent substances for that weight. He calls this an Iron Law of Prohibition.)
It is also true that beer and wine are a gateway to whiskey and rum – although RTDs themselves are probably a gateway to the sort of idiotic childlike comments made by the minister.
It is true that the Dunedin life-study for example finds that heavy use of cannabis in teenagers correlates with mental health problems, but neither this study nor any other shows that heavy use of cannabis causes problems like schizophrenia any more than heavy drinking causes depression – indeed, it is more likely that those who are depressed feel like a drink, and so on.
Moreover, synthetic cannabis, which Adams and her ilk make legal from moment to moment, is arguably among the very worst of the recreational drugs found so easily around towns and cities; and just like the incentive towards more potent drugs, virtually all the many “harms” Adams and other cite as being due to cannabis – encouraging gangs, increasing toxicity, inconcistent products – are due instead entirely to its prohibition (as Portugal for example discovered so benevolently in overturning its prohibition policies and seeing crime and drug abuse both fall.)
Adams herself cites no studies at all in making her claim, relying instead only on her own studied ignorance and the fatuous stupidity of her interviewers.
Examples of studies concluding the gateway theory to be false however include a 2002 study based on recent survey data on nearly 4,000 children and young adults which finds:
● No significant impact of soft drug use on the risk of later involvement with crack and heroin.
● Very little impact of soft drug use on the risk of later involvement in crime.
Add to this the peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of School Health which found that cannabis is not the gateway drug, but instead the most commonly used legalised drug in New Zealand, alcohol, is the precursor to use of much harder drugs like amphetamines.
‘While it may not settle the debate over how drug use begins, researchers found that alcohol, not marijuana, is the gateway drug that leads teens down the path of hard drug use, according to a new study that will be published in the August edition of the Journal of School Health.
Researchers looked at data from over 14,500 students from 120 public and private schools in the United States to evaluate whether students had used any of 11 substances, including alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, LSD, amphetamines, tranquilizers and other narcotics. They found that more often than not, alcohol was the first substance students tried before moving on to other drugs.
“I am confident in our findings and the clear implications they have for school-based prevention programs. By delaying and/or preventing the use of alcohol, these programs can indirectly reduce the rate of use of other substances,” Barry said in a statement.
Alcohol was also the most commonly used substance, according to the study. More than 70 percent of students reported using alcohol at some point during their lifetime, compared to only 45 percent who reported using tobacco and 43 percent who used marijuana.
Researchers also found that students who used alcohol were up to 16 times more likely to use illicit drugs.’
Meanwhile, Wake Up NZ point out that
Cannabis use in New Zealand registered 14.6% of adults in 2007 compared to methamphetamine use at 2% in 2009. With this in mind, wouldn’t we expect to see a much higher corresponding figure of people using meth if according to Amy Adams, cannabis users progress on to smoking meth?
It is widely known that the large majority of people who smoke cannabis do not progress to using dangerous drugs such as amphetamines, just as the large majority of people who drink alcohol also do not then move on to hard illicit drugs. The current National government however won’t let facts get in the way of publicly spreading misinformation to keep the war on drugs consuming more victims in New Zealand.
Amy Adams is an idiot. In continuing to cause harm by continuing prohibition, she is a very harmful idiot – a gateway to all the harms that Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs has caused and will continue to under the ignorance of all the deluded drug warriors who maintain it.
Mind you, at least Dick Nixon’s advisors knew they were lying. I wonder what excuse Adams et al have.
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4 comments:
Almost 50 years ago at college we were told that Marijuana was a gate way drug to heroin.I think that it was prohibition that was the gate way to hard drugs. When I first started voting in the early 70s, on the ballot paper there was a segment where you could vote for national continuance or prohibition of alcohol. The King country was known as dry area and was one of the last places to allow alcohol.A guy I worked with who grew up in the king country said there was more piss drunk before alcohol was allowed than after.There was a fair bit drunk afterward as well.There is a kiwi guy running one of the biggest cannabis operations in Colorado and it seems to work. Amy Adams has her head in the sand, or perhaps in the trough.
Alcohol is a CNS depressant and, in fact, does cause depression in large consistent amounts. It is true, however, that depressed people turn to alcohol because it is cheap and initially makes you feel better ( it depresses the inhibitory centers for - which is why you behave like an idiot when drink). Depressed people who drink alcohol are at extreme risk of suicide.
Cannabis does not cause mental health issues in adults, though there is evidence that it may cause developmental problems in teenage brains. It does predispose schizophrenics to psychotic episodes. Apart from that, it is a far more benign drug than alcohol. Frankly, you could legalize it with the same restrictions as alcohol with little in the way of any downside. It should already be available for medical purposes and the fact that it isn't is a disgrace.
Until taxpayers no longer have to pay for when stoners cant work or raise their families Amy Adams gets it right.
The illusion that smokers have, that Cannabis is harmless and even good for you is just that, an illusion. I disinclude medical cases, but I am suspicious of personal endorsements . .
It is not a gateway drug, though, so .Amy Adams is picking up the wrong stick
In fact general observation is that many Cannabis users scorn alcohol.
Its negative effects, also commonly observed are cognitive changes, and lack of zeal, ambition and drive. Cannabis is not called dope for nothing.
Oh wow see how my writing, and painting is so much better with dope, I will go back to work tomorrow..
Long term and regular use lead to family and social consequences.
The costs of enforcement due to criminalisation are substantial. everywhere.
In fact over in Thailand the military Government is about to decriminalise Amphetamines [ ya ba ] , because they have lost control to the Police and Mafia at Klong Toey wharf.
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