Steppingstone Theory
The gateway drug theory (also called gateway theory, gateway hypothesis and gateway effect) is the theory that the use of less deleterious drugs may lead to a future risk of using more dangerous hard drugs and/or crime. It is often attributed to the use of one of several drugs, including tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis.
While some research shows that many hard drug users used cannabis or alcohol before moving on to the harder substances, other research shows that some serious drug abusers have used other drugs before using cannabis or alcohol. The former is particularly evident in individual drug-abuse histories which tend to show that "hard drug" users do progress from one drug to another.
Read more about Steppingstone Theory: Variations of The Theory, Cannabis, Alcohol, Tobacco, Other Drugs Sometimes Alleged To Be Gateway Drugs, Reverse Gateway, Criticisms, See Also
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—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)