Is marijuana a gateway drug? It most definitely is

In your Aug. 25 edit- orial, “Voters should think long, hard before saying yes to legalization of marijuana,” you asked the question: “Is marijuana a gateway drug?” I’d like to answer that question with an unequivocal “yes” and offer some personal observations and comments

I have worked locally as a police officer for the past 27 years and have spent the past 13 years working with juveniles as a school resource officer and juvenile detective. During this time, I have seen again and again the terrible things that teen drug use has caused in the lives of young people and their families.

Time and again, I’ve seen young teens begin to use marijuana and the other “gateway drugs” of tobacco and alcohol, oftentimes as early as 12 or 13 years old. I’ve seen many of these same teens then barely make it to adulthood or high school graduation, before they are struggling with very serious drug-addiction problems.

ROAD TO ADDICTION

We have had young adults in our community lose their lives due to drug overdose, drug violence, and other drug-related issues, and I firmly believe many of these individuals began their road to addiction by using gateway drugs at an early age.

If we want to do something about the heroin epidemic, a significant impact can be made by preventing teenagers from using drugs in the first place. Nothing good comes from 14- year-olds using marijuana, and the legalization will only make the drug problems worse.

Oftentimes during the “gateway drug debate,” legalization proponents talk about the number of adults who use marijuana without going on to use more “serious” drugs. You often hear them say, “If I want to smoke marijuana on the weekend instead of drinking a beer, what’s the big deal?” Well, if you are a well adjusted, emotionally stable, employed, productive adult in our society, and you want to smoke marijuana instead of having a beer, then there probably isn’t much of a problem.

The important distinction that needs to be made when having the gateway-drug discussion is the very important difference between teenagers and adults. The brain of a juvenile is not fully developed; therefore, any type of drug use has a much different and more dangerous impact than with an adult.

Juveniles are more susceptible to addiction, risk taking, and poor decision-making.

Also, many of the teens who I have seen using marijuana at a young age are also dealing with other issues, such as abuse/neglect at home, mental health problems, and delinquent behavior.

Their marijuana use certainly does not help with these other problems, but almost always compounds the problems and makes the situation worse.

Over the past 10 years, I have also seen an alarming change in attitude of some teens and adults/parents toward the use of marijuana. More teens have the attitude that marijuana is not dangerous or addictive and smoking a little “weed” is not a big deal. I’ve had many conversations with students who answered, “No,” when asked if they were using drugs; only to go on and explain that they use marijuana, but don’t really view that as drug use. I’ve had high school students tell me their parents buy them their “weed and cigarettes.” I’ve had parents of middle school students tell me they knew their child was using marijuana, and then take absolutely no steps to stop or prevent further drug use. I’ve had conversations with students where they are aware of marijuana legalization efforts in states like Colorado, and they use this information to justify their own use of the drug. I believe this change in attitude is dangerous, and if marijuana is legalized in Ohio, this attitude will only lead to the increased use of marijuana by teenagers.

I believe there are many reasons for voters in Ohio to defeat the legalization of marijuana in November’s general election. I believe there is no more important reason to defeat this issue than the welfare and safety of our children. Vote “No” on Issue 3.

Chuck Hillman, Boardman