The Gateway Drug Theory

Decent Essays
Gateway drugs are habit forming drugs that may lead to the use of other hardcore drugs such as cocaine heroin, and methamphetamine.
The gateway drug theory also called gateway theory, gateway hypothesis and gateway effect states that use of less deleterious drugs precedes, and can lead to, future use of more dangerous drugs or crime. It is often attributed to the earlier use of one of several substances, including cigarettes or beer as well as weed. The reasoning behind the lecit gateway drugs is not that they can push you to doing other things it’s that they can be used so often that you don't get the high you did before, so you are practically forced mentally to go out and find a harder substance to use to get high therefore that where

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In her book “Opening Skinner’s Box,” Lauren Slater invites us in this book to reflect on human nature by describing, commenting and inquiring about classic experiments in psychology. In chapter 7: “Rat Park” The Radical Addiction Experiment. She brings up an experiment that Bruce Alexander, a psychologist; made with rats. He decided to build a colorful park where he put from 16 to 20 rats of both genders with abundant food, balls and wheels to play. On the other hand, he isolated other ones into the cage, which are forced to consume morphine for 57 days.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Drugs use can spread in a variety of different ways; however, peer influence and personal pressures are often the source of drug usage…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Methadone Theory

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages

    During the mid to late 90s, there was a growing epidemic on the eastern seaboard where heroin was leading to skyrocketing numbers of overdose deaths. This called into action members of the U.S. Department of Human Services to both recognize the problem and begin efforts to curb the destruction of the drug, especially on the streets of Harlem. What Harlem and many other cities across the country started to see was the introduction of a drug by the name of methadone. Methadone was widely viewed by many within the treatment industry, as the cure all drug for those struggling with addiction, as it limited the users drug cravings and would not allow the user to get high on regular forms of opiates.…

    • 1197 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A continuous reoccurrence of using becomes an everyday trend (Kovac 22). Self control becomes invisible as the path to addiction becomes longer (Jedras and Field 2). Drug resources continue to grow everyday (Zimic and Valdo…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Opioids In Drugs

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Opioids have been used in pharmaceutical drugs as a painkiller. Opioids are in medications like morphine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, which have been praised for their effectiveness for patients suffering extreme pain However, there have been downsides to using opioids in drugs. The use of opioids has lead to addictions and to deaths in the United States. After people take opioids as a painkiller, they can become addicted to the drug. This addiction they get can lead them deeper into addiction or even death.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The authors main point is to get out that addiction is not mostly a chemical based issue, it is more of a social based issue. Yes, part of the issue can be related to addicting chemicals, but most addictions have nothing to do with chemicals. Addiction is caused by lack of social interaction in a way. Many studies have been done to prove this as accurate. Addiction is something many people do not understand, especially addicts themselves.…

    • 673 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The decision leading to taking drugs is optional for most individuals, but after taking it once and having a repeating pattern can develop to brain changes that fight an addicted individual’s restraint and obstructs their ability to defy against taking drugs. The most common type of drug addictions are heroin, cracked cocaine and ecstasy. Heroin…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    War On Drugs Sociology

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages

    It is under popular belief that our criminal justice system today is designed to keep the poor, poor, and the rich, rich. The criminal justice system practically targets the disadvantaged communities of the nation, specifically the African American communities which have the highest incarceration rate out of any other race by a landslide. How do they actually target these communities? Well it all began practically with the Reagan era and the “War on Drugs” which swept the nation, enforcing mandatory minimums for minor drug charges focusing particularly on cocaine in the lesser affluent neighborhoods. In class we have emphasized this, and in the documentary that we viewed in class, 13, expresses the division of our system and how race really…

    • 947 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    People develop addictions very easily and cannot overcome them. The dependence on a specified stimulant will eventually…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cultural Ritual Analysis

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Many people use drugs just for the effects, others however, will take a drug to try and increase performance, apart of a cultural ritual, or because of those around them using. Many college students will start taking Adderall or Ritalin to try and increase performance or to stay awake long enough to finish all of their work. Many Native American tribes used drugs like alcohol and tobacco as apart of rituals. You then have people who are apart of a great ecosystem of drug user, dealer, and seller who may get wrapped into drugs because they are apart of that group. College is a time where people have the most amount of pressure for academic and social success.…

    • 1027 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Outline and evaluate two or more competing theories of drug use. Which of these do you think is most successful at explaining contemporary patterns of drug use, and why? The causes of drug use have been under discussion for many years. In this essay, I will outline several theories which divided into three main areas: biological theories, psychological theories and sociological theories.…

    • 791 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Drug abuse in America is at an all time high across the country. The effects of drug abuse on 18-35 year old male and females in America changes the way drug addicts see reality. Drug abuse can affect a person’s mental alertness, consciousness, cognitive and neurological functions, as well as lead to death, homelessness, loss of family and friends and even prison. Prescription drug overdoses constituted for more overdose deaths than heroin and cocaine combined, and as many, more emergency room visits. Most people start out with a legit medical issue that leads to a prescription for pain, cancer, and even stress.…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Heroin Epidemic Theory

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The deviant identity that I chose was the heroin epidemic, and how it is portrayed in the media. I took interest in this topic, because 2016 was yet another year that the number of fatalities due to heroin overdoses has increased, one of them being someone very close to me. On August 27, 2016, I received a phone call to go to my father’s house. My family was on the porch, crying. There was a flashing police car, and the door was wide open as an officer walked out with a bent spoon in his hand.…

    • 1622 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Being able to reproduce and bring new life to earth is a blessing many persons continue to adore. A baby’s first step, first word, and first smile are only a few of an abundance of ‘firsts’ parents look forward to recording or scribbling down in their infant’s baby book. The sullen reality is not all ‘firsts’ are going to aspire great success. Drug abuse is a very serious issue in the United States. According to Erik Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, “teenagers work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity” (Meyers 144).…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In other words, the more they get, is the more they want. Crack-Cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine are all man-made addictive hardcore drugs that ruining peoples’ lives daily.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays