UF study shows long-term drug abuse starts with alcohol

University of Florida

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Alcohol — not marijuana — is the gateway drug that leads adolescents down the path toward more serious substances, a new University of Florida study shows.

The findings may not settle a decades-old debate over how drug abuse begins, but it could help educators and policymakers build more effective drug-prevention programs, said Adam Barry, an assistant professor and researcher in the College of Health and Human Performance.

I'm not really a believer in the correlation/causation stance. I do however believe that if you have a tendency for dependence you will always crave something to fill that hole. The article dose provide evidence that the claim that marijuana is the gateway is false.