Over-stimulation of these receptors through exposure to cannabis may alter these cells so that the brain either feels intensely rewarded by subsequent heroin exposure, or needs an ever-increasing dose to feel the same pleasure both of which could lead to addiction.
So any drug is a gateway to any other drug, including alcohol and tobacco.
She adds that two other drugs that also stimulate opioid cells, and could therefore also feasibly cause a gateway effect, are nicotine and alcohol. "If we turned back the clock with the knowledge we have now, these two drugs would never have been legalized," Hurd says.
"Gateway" or not, Prohibition was a ringing failure ... as is the war on drugs.
Why would you conclude that? She only mentioned alcohol and tobacco.
So, do you concede that marijuana, alcohol, and tobacco are gateway drugs?