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>But Spicer said that there is a big difference between medical and recreational marijuana, commenting that “When you see something like the opioid addiction cr

>But Spicer said that there is a big difference between medical and recreational marijuana, commenting that “When you see something like the opioid addiction crisis blossoming in so many states around this country, the last thing we should be doing is encouraging people.” Pretty mind-numbing to see people still peddling gateway theory. Is there any real link between recreational pot and opioid addiction in any meaningful, causative way?

genesee 10y ago
This quote from the article indicates the opposite effect, actually! I'd like to see the study that concluded this, but it's an easy statement for me to believe. > "As for connecting marijuana to the legal opioid crisis, Spicer has it exactly backwards. Greater access to marijuana has actually led to declines in opioid use, overdoses and other problems."
- remarkEon 10y ago
  Yeah I saw that. So I'm confused on where he's getting this idea, since as far as I'm aware of current research...the trend is the opposite.
  - martincmartin 10y ago
    He doesn't listen to experts or research. Instead, he uses common sense. “So really,” continued Eric, “I should be saying sorry to you, for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Instead of considering all the evidence, I just applied some common sense—otherwise known as prejudice—and came up with a totally wrong answer.” ― Lucy Hawking, George's Secret Key to the Universe https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/857108-george-s-secret-key-to-the-universe https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/857108-george-s-secret...
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
elchief 10y ago
53% of British Columbians have tried marijuana, and 2.4% use opioids. Not much of a gateway...
- cmdrfred 10y ago
  I wonder what percentage of legal opioid users move onto heroin and obtaining the drug via illegal means. If more, then at very least the theory is applied in a hypocritical way.
  - cgh 10y ago
    This is one basis of the fentanyl crisis in BC, eg http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/north-van-couple-lost-tofentanyl/article32933591/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/north-v...
- gozur88 10y ago
  Heh heh. When I was growing up there was a big push to prevent kids from smoking, because smoking was supposed to be the gateway drug to marijuana. When I got to college I heard the same thing from all the smokers: "I never had any desire to smoke cigarettes until after I started smoking pot."
  - unprepare 10y ago
    likely a result of its questionable legality, since cigarettes are a perfectly valid reason to smell like smoke.
senorjazz 10y ago
Isn't the current opioid problem caused by Drs over prescribing oxycotins due to the pharma company basically lying / manipulating the data on addition and redosing for greater profit? i.e. nothing at all to do with cannabis
ImTalking 10y ago
What does it matter since the prohibition of cannabis has never been about harm. You can have all the studies in the world and it won't matter a damn... and my proof of this? Why is industrial hemp illegal?
- 5ilv3r 10y ago
  dupont!
dotnetisnotdead 10y ago
It's extremely difficult to find an addict that didn't "try pot first" but that's only one part of the equation. Where it breaks down is when you draw the correlation as "most hard drug users have tried pot, so most of the people who tried pot become hardcore drug users". OF course we know that not to be the case. However if you only use the first part of the definition (as many anti marijuana advocates do) then you must acknowledge the amount of hard drug users who smoke cigarettes ( a lot ) therefore cigarettes are also a gateway drug. Still legal. I too am surprised this theory is still being peddled. Personal/anecdotal: I worked near addicts in treatment for a few years, (no I am not an expert or counselor it was a tech role) and I noticed many of them smoked cigarettes. Many of them still smoked weed too for medical purposes and it simply didn't have the adverse affects on their life that the "other" drugs did (heroin, meth, etc). It's simply not in the same class. I'm not a pot smoker and never have been, but I strongly agree with legalization based on what I've seen.
tunap 10y ago
Was needing roof access to replace a controller or sensor last year and a 30-something manager had to unlock door & escort me. I mentioned was nice to have stairs & a door instead of ladder+hatch. Their response was it was a detriment, as employees were going out and smoking cigs so they had to lock it. As an aside, they said "luckily nobody smoked pot and jumped off the roof". I chuckled and waited for the punchline, but one never came.

genesee 10y ago

This quote from the article indicates the opposite effect, actually! I'd like to see the study that concluded this, but it's an easy statement for me to believe. > "As for connecting marijuana to the legal opioid crisis, Spicer has it exactly backwards. Greater access to marijuana has actually led to declines in opioid use, overdoses and other problems."

remarkEon 10y ago
Yeah I saw that. So I'm confused on where he's getting this idea, since as far as I'm aware of current research...the trend is the opposite.
- martincmartin 10y ago
  He doesn't listen to experts or research. Instead, he uses common sense. “So really,” continued Eric, “I should be saying sorry to you, for jumping to the wrong conclusion. Instead of considering all the evidence, I just applied some common sense—otherwise known as prejudice—and came up with a totally wrong answer.” ― Lucy Hawking, George's Secret Key to the Universe https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/857108-george-s-secret-key-to-the-universe https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/857108-george-s-secret...

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

elchief 10y ago

53% of British Columbians have tried marijuana, and 2.4% use opioids. Not much of a gateway...

cmdrfred 10y ago
I wonder what percentage of legal opioid users move onto heroin and obtaining the drug via illegal means. If more, then at very least the theory is applied in a hypocritical way.
- cgh 10y ago
  This is one basis of the fentanyl crisis in BC, eg http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/north-van-couple-lost-tofentanyl/article32933591/ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/north-v...
gozur88 10y ago
Heh heh. When I was growing up there was a big push to prevent kids from smoking, because smoking was supposed to be the gateway drug to marijuana. When I got to college I heard the same thing from all the smokers: "I never had any desire to smoke cigarettes until after I started smoking pot."
- unprepare 10y ago
  likely a result of its questionable legality, since cigarettes are a perfectly valid reason to smell like smoke.

senorjazz 10y ago

Isn't the current opioid problem caused by Drs over prescribing oxycotins due to the pharma company basically lying / manipulating the data on addition and redosing for greater profit? i.e. nothing at all to do with cannabis

ImTalking 10y ago

What does it matter since the prohibition of cannabis has never been about harm. You can have all the studies in the world and it won't matter a damn... and my proof of this? Why is industrial hemp illegal?

5ilv3r 10y ago
dupont!

dotnetisnotdead 10y ago

It's extremely difficult to find an addict that didn't "try pot first" but that's only one part of the equation. Where it breaks down is when you draw the correlation as "most hard drug users have tried pot, so most of the people who tried pot become hardcore drug users". OF course we know that not to be the case. However if you only use the first part of the definition (as many anti marijuana advocates do) then you must acknowledge the amount of hard drug users who smoke cigarettes ( a lot ) therefore cigarettes are also a gateway drug. Still legal. I too am surprised this theory is still being peddled. Personal/anecdotal: I worked near addicts in treatment for a few years, (no I am not an expert or counselor it was a tech role) and I noticed many of them smoked cigarettes. Many of them still smoked weed too for medical purposes and it simply didn't have the adverse affects on their life that the "other" drugs did (heroin, meth, etc). It's simply not in the same class. I'm not a pot smoker and never have been, but I strongly agree with legalization based on what I've seen.

tunap 10y ago

Was needing roof access to replace a controller or sensor last year and a 30-something manager had to unlock door & escort me. I mentioned was nice to have stairs & a door instead of ladder+hatch. Their response was it was a detriment, as employees were going out and smoking cigs so they had to lock it. As an aside, they said "luckily nobody smoked pot and jumped off the roof". I chuckled and waited for the punchline, but one never came.