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by stretchcat
1961 days ago
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My theory is that using cannabis as a coping mechanism to dull your mind to some other sort of trauma or despair will often lead to harder drugs. Cannabis is not a good drug for such coping because with sustained heavy use it will inevitably lose it's efficacy. When a well adjusted healthy person develops a cannabis tolerance, they can take a break for a few weeks to reset their tolerance. Not a big deal. But somebody who's using cannabis to cope? Going sober for a few weeks may be intolerable, but weed is no longer helping them, so many turn to another drug. Consider that coping with problems instead of addressing them directly often leads to worse outcomes in the long run, since many problems can get worse the longer you ignore them. This makes the apparent need for another drug feel even stronger in this sort of person. In brief, cannabis cannot solve your problems and trying to mask your problems with cannabis is often the start of a downward spiral. |
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The exact opposite of your theory is pretty clearly demonstrated in the medical literature with respect to risk escalation. Cannabis use is correlated with reduction in mortality rates, and lower frequency use of hard drugs in chronic substance abusers. It facilitates a risk deescalation for hard drug users.
Literature does indicate that those abusing a substance are more likely to abuse other substances, however there is consensus that there is no gateway effect. Essentially, there's no way to determine causality in these situations, as poly-drug addiction is a complex illness. Lastly, these results were for people who's use disorder escalated to the point where they were checked into an inpatient care facility. That's not the type of quasi-medical use you describe.
See, for instance:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1080/095952399967...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S15265...