grammychronic
May 9th, 2009, 03:49 PM
Study of 4000 indicates marijuana discourages use of hard drugs
A ground-breaking study of 4117 marijuana smokers in California reveals that the ‘Gateway Theory’ probably had it backwards. Instead of enticing young people to use other drugs, this study suggests that marijuana may have the opposite effect.
This first-ever clinical examination of a large number of medical marijuana applicants depicts a population that is remarkably normal. The percentages earning bachelors’ degrees and doctorates are nearly identical to the national numbers. They are, in the main, productive citizens with jobs, homes and families who smoke marijuana weekly or daily – and have in some cases for decades.
For the vast majority of these applicants, their use of cannabis ultimately led to a decrease in the use of tobacco, alcohol, and hard drugs. Asked to compare their current alcohol consumption with their lifetime peak, over 10% claimed to be abstinent and nearly 90% claimed to have cut their drinking in half.
They also report using cannabis as self medication for stress and anxiety – with fewer side effects than the legal pharmaceutical alternatives.
http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/study-of-4000-indicates-marijuana-discourages-use-of-hard-drugs/
The Study:
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/4/1/16
More: Twin study fails to prove 'gateway' hypothesis
by Dr Andrew Byrne
Dear Colleagues,
Twin studies can be informative in causation theories. These authors state that in addition to having close or identical genetic make-up: ".. twin pairs, having been reared in the same household, would be expected to be highly concordant for environmental experiences." Thus most twins are exposed to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs at much the same age.
In their lead item in JAMA, Lynskey et al. find that for the exceptional minority of twin pairs (~300 out of 4000) in whom 'cannabis use before age 17' was discordant, that subsequent reported drug abuse/dependency was 2 to 5 times more prevalent in the early cannabis users. The authors find that this association lends weight to causation while admitting it is 'not possible to draw strong causal conclusions' of the 'gateway' theory. It is intriguing that they would address causation when this is a retrospective, cross-sectional study, a design which is not able to determine causation.
Since twins who used cannabis in the same year were eliminated, conclusions based on their similarities of upbringing must be guarded. These twins demonstrated at least one major difference in their environment and/or decision making on at least one occasion during adolescence. Whatever caused this may also explain the higher reported rates of other drug use, quite independent of any theoretical 'chemical priming' or 'gateway' effect.
These results are all derived single follow-up telephone interviews with an unknown party over matters relating to illegal drug use, child sex abuse and other personal issues up to 15 years earlier. Some may have chosen to (falsely) deny childhood cannabis use and then to also deny adult abuse or dependency. Others may have had faulty recollection for such distant events, making the findings less secure.
A certain minority of young people use hard drugs prior to using cannabis (around 1 - 2% from household surveys). Such subjects should be of considerable interest to those addressing the so-called 'gateway' theory. Lynskey et al. however, having found that up to 17 of their subjects used hard drugs before being exposed to cannabis, chose to exclude them from their study.
http://www.ukcia.org/research/EscalationOfDrugUse/TwinStudyFailsToProveGateway.html
A ground-breaking study of 4117 marijuana smokers in California reveals that the ‘Gateway Theory’ probably had it backwards. Instead of enticing young people to use other drugs, this study suggests that marijuana may have the opposite effect.
This first-ever clinical examination of a large number of medical marijuana applicants depicts a population that is remarkably normal. The percentages earning bachelors’ degrees and doctorates are nearly identical to the national numbers. They are, in the main, productive citizens with jobs, homes and families who smoke marijuana weekly or daily – and have in some cases for decades.
For the vast majority of these applicants, their use of cannabis ultimately led to a decrease in the use of tobacco, alcohol, and hard drugs. Asked to compare their current alcohol consumption with their lifetime peak, over 10% claimed to be abstinent and nearly 90% claimed to have cut their drinking in half.
They also report using cannabis as self medication for stress and anxiety – with fewer side effects than the legal pharmaceutical alternatives.
http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com/2009/04/30/study-of-4000-indicates-marijuana-discourages-use-of-hard-drugs/
The Study:
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/4/1/16
More: Twin study fails to prove 'gateway' hypothesis
by Dr Andrew Byrne
Dear Colleagues,
Twin studies can be informative in causation theories. These authors state that in addition to having close or identical genetic make-up: ".. twin pairs, having been reared in the same household, would be expected to be highly concordant for environmental experiences." Thus most twins are exposed to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs at much the same age.
In their lead item in JAMA, Lynskey et al. find that for the exceptional minority of twin pairs (~300 out of 4000) in whom 'cannabis use before age 17' was discordant, that subsequent reported drug abuse/dependency was 2 to 5 times more prevalent in the early cannabis users. The authors find that this association lends weight to causation while admitting it is 'not possible to draw strong causal conclusions' of the 'gateway' theory. It is intriguing that they would address causation when this is a retrospective, cross-sectional study, a design which is not able to determine causation.
Since twins who used cannabis in the same year were eliminated, conclusions based on their similarities of upbringing must be guarded. These twins demonstrated at least one major difference in their environment and/or decision making on at least one occasion during adolescence. Whatever caused this may also explain the higher reported rates of other drug use, quite independent of any theoretical 'chemical priming' or 'gateway' effect.
These results are all derived single follow-up telephone interviews with an unknown party over matters relating to illegal drug use, child sex abuse and other personal issues up to 15 years earlier. Some may have chosen to (falsely) deny childhood cannabis use and then to also deny adult abuse or dependency. Others may have had faulty recollection for such distant events, making the findings less secure.
A certain minority of young people use hard drugs prior to using cannabis (around 1 - 2% from household surveys). Such subjects should be of considerable interest to those addressing the so-called 'gateway' theory. Lynskey et al. however, having found that up to 17 of their subjects used hard drugs before being exposed to cannabis, chose to exclude them from their study.
http://www.ukcia.org/research/EscalationOfDrugUse/TwinStudyFailsToProveGateway.html