Steppingstone Theory - Variations of The Theory

Variations of The Theory

Several different hypotheses have been called "gateway" theories in popular discourse. These include (but are not limited to):

  • The gateway substance causes users to be at increased risk for abuse of other substances.
  • The gateway substance primes the brain for addiction to other substances (independent of becoming more likely to try other substances).
  • A rigid sequence of progression, starting with licit drugs followed by (increasingly dangerous) illicit ones.
  • The gateway effect is pharmacological, rather than socially constructed.

Read more about this topic:  Steppingstone Theory

Famous quotes containing the words variations and/or theory:

    I may be able to spot arrowheads on the desert but a refrigerator is a jungle in which I am easily lost. My wife, however, will unerringly point out that the cheese or the leftover roast is hiding right in front of my eyes. Hundreds of such experiences convince me that men and women often inhabit quite different visual worlds. These are differences which cannot be attributed to variations in visual acuity. Man and women simply have learned to use their eyes in very different ways.
    Edward T. Hall (b. 1914)

    The theory seems to be that so long as a man is a failure he is one of God’s chillun, but that as soon as he has any luck he owes it to the Devil.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)