Marijuana is a gateway drug

Those who regularly smoke marijuana are 60 times more likely to try other illegal drugs than those who have never tried it.^[1] By legalizing marijuana, we legitimize the first step in a pipeline that leads users to harder, far more dangerous drugs. People who use marijuana use more drugs (legal and illegal) than people that do not use marijuana. Also, people that are addicted to marijuana are three times more likely to be addicted to heroin.^[2] Legalizing marijuana makes it more available and acceptable to use. This will result in an increase in usage which can lead to an increase in heroin use. To address the opioid crisis, we need to discourage drug usage, not legalize it. Marijuana also increases vulnerability for addiction. Experiments on animals have shown that marijuana use decreases the reactivity of the brain’s dopamine reward center and primes the brain for an enhanced reaction to other drugs such as morphine.^[3] These reactions both increase the vulnerability for addiction. Therefore, not only does marijuana use lead to other harder drug use, but it makes those users more susceptible to addiction. Marijuana can lead people down a dangerous and addictive path toward harder and more dangerous drugs, such as heroin.

[P1] Marijuana is a gateway drug. [P2] Marijuana increases vulnerability to addiction. [P3] Legalizing marijuana would lead more users to marijuana and therefore more people would move on to become addicted to more dangerous drugs.