[tdadams]

“I would agree that marijuana is a gateway drug to hardcore drugs,” Boyd said. Marijuana is “the great seducer,” Boyd said, because “it breaks down a person’s defense to say ‘no’ to the harder drugs.”

That's just utterly biased conjecture. In Amsterdam, where marijuana use has been de facto legalized, the experience has been just the opposite. Use of harder drugs have gone down significantly.

[buffyt]

We used to smoke marijuana in college 1969-1973 and that did NOT lead to harder drugs! We mostly smoked it on the weekends and we did NOT drive after smoking. We sat around in a living room and smoked. The people who use harder drugs do so without smoking pot, too. I don't smoke now because I had three kids - [grown kids now]. I didn't want to risk losing my kids. I didn't want to be influence on my kids, regarding smoking cigarettes or using illegal drugs, even just pot. Now that they are grown they know that their parents smoked pot in college. It is no big deal to them now. I would still smoke it if it became legal. Instead of a Friday night martini I might smoke a joint. Oh no! Oh my!

[GrandMoM]

would agree that marijuana is a gateway drug to hardcore drugs,” Boyd said. Marijuana is “the great seducer,” Boyd said, because “it breaks down a person’s defense to say ‘no’ to the harder drugs.”

....NO, that would be alcohol.