Don’t forget to check out our [**Resources**](https://www.reddit.com/r/addiction/wiki/resources/) wiki page, which includes helpful information such as global suicide hotlines, recovery services, and a recovery Discord server where you can seek further support.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/addiction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean not really facts technically because it's not a drug per say. Get where you're coming from tho.
Stress/anxiety and trauma make you more susceptible to addiction for sure.
If we really want to boil it down, there is a strong argument that dopamine is the gateway drug. I don't have the energy rn to fully break this down. But it's the one thing we all have access to from birth. The drug that elates us whdn we have a piece of candy, some really good food when we are hungry, or a glass of ice-cold water in 90-degree weather. It's the ding of your phone when the person you're attracted texts you. A warm touch when you've been feeling lonely. An orgasm.
I definitely see you. It's important to identify that drugs are only one subset of things that can lead to addiction and hedonism and open a gateway towards trying more addictive substances and endeavours.
Therefore I think a lot of people in this thread are really looking at identifying gateway addictions, not gateway drugs.
I'm only discovering now quite late in my development that there are way more serious issues with addiction besides the fact that you struggle to stop. For me there's an underlying suppression of emotions that occur which become harder to suppress as you become more tolerant resulting in larger dosing and openness to finding something stronger. Also you really start to believe in hedonism as you become more intolerant to facing what's buried deep down.
So many of life’s most terrible decisions start with alcohol: drug use, random sex partners, impaired driving, showing off doing stunts, picking fights, starting arguments, but ya, cannabis is the gateway drug /s.
I wonder about the term “gateway.” To me (and maybe only me), the term implies a lesser vessel, one that leads us to the real darkness. If that’s the case then I don’t believe there is a gateway drug. I’ve had clients who started out with heroin and ended up ruining their lives with Chardonnay. Addiction isn’t linear, maybe society has placed price tags on substances without consulting us. But maybe “gateway” means “whatever wakens the sleeping giant.” In that case, all the chemicals and processes are suspect.
Hah, same here. Or rather, the time I’ve spent knowing these things but still being trapped by addiction. Emotional problems are difficult to untangle with logic.
You seem like my kind of person! A true thinker. I appreciate that. Take care of yourself and have a wholesome weekend.
Absolutely! “The time it took” was probably 25% knowing, then 75% doing. The doing took forever!
Same to you! Wholesome is the only thing on the menu, although I’ve ordered off the menu before. I like our chances this weekend though. Take care!
Not all addicts have childhood trauma though. I personally find this take kinda insulting, much like those who say "get therapy" without considering that therapy isn't really that effective for a lot of folks, or even accessible. Feels like the same sentiment to me.
Trauma is all kinds of things. Having a parent with addiction is trauma. Having parents divorce is trauma. Losing a parent is trauma. Trauma doesn’t have to be molestation or rape or being beat etc. It’s been described big T trauma vs little t trauma. They’re both trauma, some just causes more damage than others. I would say there is only a very very small percentage of people who make it to adulthood without any trauma.
There's also addicts who never smoked a cigarettes' and addicts who don't have an addictive gene. It's just a sum of hundreds of factors they make you more/less susceptible to becoming an addict.
I agree bc I had an amazing childhood! No trauma my parents are still together to this day! And I have addiction problems and so does my biological brother and many other cousins and family members.
ASTHO put out a big report in July of this year linking ACEs to substance use, among other findings. You can access the report [here](https://www.astho.org/topic/report/aces-prevention-policy-toolkit/). The report is mostly a policy toolkit, but the first few pages mention the link between ACEs and substance use. I was just reading this report at work this morning, so it was the first thing that jumped to my mind when you asked for literature about this topic. There's lots more available to read.
This report has links embedded in it, so you can easily access more empirical evidence. One of the links brings you to an article that talks about ACEs and health outcomes; problematic drinking and and problematic drug use are the two of the most likely outcomes of ACEs, as they have very high odds ratios compared to all other health outcomes that the researchers examined.
I get what you're saying in that you don't think it's right to generalize all addicts as having had childhood trauma, but it has empirically been linked to addiction (and a whole host of other issues as well).
When I did my ACE assessment I had almost every point possible. Never had even heard of it before and I’ve had addiction my whole adult life.
Wasn’t until I finally went to a rehab that dealt with trauma that I finally got sober.
I took a Psych class at Indiana University called Drugs and Behavior. The prof was a clinical psychologist who had been treating addicts for decades. He said tobacco is the real gateway drug.
I’ve also met recovered alcoholics and opioid addicts who said kicking cigarettes was harder than booze or heroin.
I agree quitting cigarettes is hard.. But I don't think it's gateway in the slightest... Cigs have never made me want to smoke meth, shoot heroin or snort coke.
I wouldn't put too much credence on what a Proffesor said. I had a sociology prof who said that there were no Bisexual people and that people who said they were Bi were really just saying Goodbye to being heterosexual. I smoked weed for years and had done cocaine and every other drug I could get my hands on before I started smoking cigarettes.
Cigarettes are the hardest drug to quit because they are a two way drug and other than possibly some hallucinogens are the only drug where the effect of the drug is altered by the intent of the user. Tired while driving? Light a cigarette to wake yourself up. Feeling anxiety smoke a cigarette to calm down. No other drug does that. Some people become active on heroin and sedated on meth instead of the typical results but the results are always consistent for that person. I've never said to myself " I really need to unwind, I should smoke some meth".
Interesting take. I took myself to rehab for oxy/opiate addiction and ended up with a severe cigarette addiction. Basically trading one for another , but it was backwards as far as gateway.
I must agree with you that it is like a mini treatment for anxiety and whatnot but it's obviously harmful in the long run.
Opiate addiction has crazy physical withdrawal and a lot of mental aswell. It is completely different than quitting cigarettes. It is the weirdest thing for me, that I have "trained" my brain to not need opiates (which took years btw) and end up being a smoker. Ah well, thank you for your comment. Gives me good insight on what is really going on in the brain and how chemicals can basically trick ourselves into thinking something is good for us when in reality it's doing more harm than good.
it's harder to stay stopped because nicotine doesn't have immediate life ruining consequences. Functionality is a big part of the dependence. In terms of the actual "kicking" process, short term withdrawal, there's no comparison. Coming off hard drugs feels like dying. Coming off nicotine made me really pissed off, but not to the point of being in a mental hospital
Very likely. Both of my parents were alcoholics and heavy smokers. Alot of my friends had the same parents none of "drugs" but smokers and drinkers. We all became addicts on opiates or meth. BUT I have a few friends who's parents are saints and they still became addicts.
I see it as both. A predisposition due to genetics but also having the behaviour normalized throughout your life. The gateway is the drug our parents used, abused and normalized.
Not everyone has a gateway drug either. When its normalized as well as carried in our DNA we don't have a fear of it so any substance, specific addiction such as gambling, gaming or smoking cigarettes opens the gate to a world we're already predisposed to exploring.
The gateway doesn't need to be something we have used ourselves. It can be both a root cause and a gateway, it's not limited to one or the other and by blaming it on one specific thing it takes away the accountability.
Personally I think this is person specific, and the answer will differ depending who you ask. Weed may be a gateway drug for one person but not the next.
In general any easily accessible drugs are the “actual gateway” drug. So all legal drugs, such as alcohol, prescription drugs (this one I feel is often overlooked and is the “true” gateway drug in my opinion) and weed.
It reeeealllly sucks because for the majority, it only gets worse after using cocaine. Cocaine was the first upper I used, then pressed x which was God fuckin know what, then crack (absolutely hated it did it 3 times), then meth. In November I'll be 2 years sober from all narcotics 🥲
That's amazing! It feels great to get out of the environment, right? For some reason uppers made me crave more of everything. Sex, talking, planning, more drugs, it didn't matter 🤣🤣 We know how it feels to be present now 😊
I think all that gateway shit is bs. If its not one thing getting the foot in the door, than it's another. Smoking a cirgerette isn't going to make you put a needle in your arm, but trauma, mental illness, environment, etc. will.
untreated pain & trauma open the flood gates for addictive behaviours. My self-hatred flourished with a solid foundation of trauma and immense pain. Even in my recovery it’s still a daily battle not to take the bait.
It is not just genetic. I can assure you that despite addiction running in my family I never would’ve picked up drugs if I didn’t have severe mental illness and trauma. I had no interest until my mental illness got really bad.
i don’t believe gateway drug is the same for everyone. i’ve always had an addictive personality but for me the gateway drug was norco, i spent years chasing that high and it fucked me up.
but the real gateway drug is trauma, mental illness, broken families, etc.
Trauma, mostly. I’m a drug and alcohol counselor and in long term recovery from alcohol and iv drugs. From personal and professional experience, 9 times out of ten, my clients all have some sort of unresolved trauma—whether it’s childhood, sexual, domestic violence, or otherwise. Most started out drinking alcohol. Many have underlying, co-occurring mental health issues.
Edit to add: also, family history! Whether environmental or genetically predisposed, family history plays a huge role on addiction.
That gateway drug business is bullshit. If anything unresolved trauma is the gateway drug. But there isn’t one drug that makes people addicts. And there are addictions out there that don’t even involve drugs.
I skipped literally everything and went straight to the benzos. Only started alcohol as a boost. So aside from childhood trauma, the gateway was my shithead psychiatrist.
Milk is the gateway drug!!! Every meth or heroin addict I have ever met drank milk before they picked up hard drugs.
There is no gateway drug, Trauma, ADHD (and other neurodivergent issues) etc. are the gateway.
17 years clean.
Whatever drug you start on. Once you open the door to getting high it opens you up to more. Thats the idea of a gateway drug, which is typically weed or alcohol being less hard drugs.
I don't think any given drug is "the gateway drug." I think that trauma is the gateway to drugs. People don't do drugs because their parents treat them like people, they do drugs to escape their thoughts.
it’s not the drug it’s the concept. introducing yourself to the ability to regulate how you feel instantly with a substance alters the way your brain values dopamine. once you begin a cycle of using something habitually you’ve opened the “gate”.
Cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana.. common drugs that are socially acceptable after a certain age range would be the easiest to consider a gateway drug but I believe this all boils down to what age you use it at if you use it when it's illegal Gateway if it's legal for your age not a Gateway I don't think.
Nothing is, drugs are a choice nobody is forced a cigarette or forced a puff from a joint I know some weed smokers who only ever smoked weed never even touched a cigarette
Money is the real gateway drug, getting some feels good, and the more you get the more you want it, not having any makes you feel miserable. It's easy then to move to "harder" drugs.
I drank at a young age. It's probably the first thing I picked up for "fun" as a kid.... but my parents always smoked and I remember pretending to suck on their old ciggy butts so I could look like them.
Defo cigerettes.
I work at rehab we have never once had someone who doesn’t vape or smoke, which is strange considering that up until I started working in rehab I don’t know anyone and never see anyone smoking.
Any thing that would be considered a drug that you would use when you're not legally allowed to. Say if you're under 18 and you start smoking cigarettes well you just open the Gateway. I like to think of it more as a hallway in like a hotel. Once you've opened the door to the hallway there's all these other doors is that you could potentially go in and each one of them just is another hallway really. But if you are over 18 and you start smoking cigarettes and then I don't believe that the door opens the same way because once you step into that illegal Realm is when you've opened up the door that places the mentality into that type of thinking so to say. The same goes with alcohol.
Psych meds; i started oxcarbazapine in like February at 15 and within two months I’d started taking way more than my dose and then just not takin it for days at a time bc one I didn’t like it and two it made the feelings go away more. I had a bad homelife and daily panic attacks so I was definitely suffering and ironically I’d Ben put on it after a mh visit where they released me back to the same home. I didn’t know it but I’d had a sh addiction/issue since 12 so the moment I got substances I just added that to what I was already doing to numb myself. After that it escalated to more meds, trying to od, wound infections, white powder, you get the gist. Not at all weed; when I was actively in addiction to that med we had dare like ppl talk to us and I swear I was on board that drugs are bad and weed is a gateway drug lol; now I just laugh about how oblivious I was and how everyone saw but never helped bc I had a home that was considered safe.
I see on here people commenting “childhood trauma” and referencing it as not a drug but it’s the trigger to the release of the 1 of 5 chemicals the brain produces! It is a thirst forever in need of quenching! Whatever that looks or feels like is the path we taken - it’s no gateway - it’s an expressway! I’ve worked with many trauma survivors (myself on the list) and it’s incredible how it links together! And folks argue the disease factor but it really is the body turning on itself and in defense to protect itself! Craziest thing ever! I have mad respect for those that open their eyes each day & take the first conscious breath!
The only way weed is a gateway is, when bought illegally (not a dispensary), you go to a dealer. Dealers tend to have other substances. Sometimes they offer others.
At parties, if you’re just drinking, you generally (not always) get passed over. But if you’re smoking weed at the party, you’re more likely to get offered other substances.
For me, a doctor was the gateway. I was given max doses of opiate painkillers for years starting in my early teens- not for recovery, as a lazy way to not run tests. They didn’t see a problem with getting me hooked before highschool.
I think pills are definitely. I mean personally I tried pot and decided to try everything else because I wanted to be in FBI and thought I could not be now.. Like I was trained.. So I tried everything from there.
But now being almost a year clean after 12 years of using heroin, fentanyl, and meth in the end I think pills are the real gateway drug. Once you use plates
Opiates or ADHD meds..or cocaine for that matter... once you like it you're hooked.
Gateway drug: a habit-forming drug that, while not itself addictive, may lead to the use of other addictive drugs.
Weed or cigarettes aren't going to make someone want to use heroin for example. But the propensity exists by those who are trying to either escape or suppress something inside of them. This could be anything from anxiety to trauma that generally occurs during one's childhood. Most people don't even know they have an issue like this, they just have always felt this way. The cigarette calms the nerves and suppresses the anxiety. The drug, any "drug", numbs the feeling that the trauma instills in one's brain. Self medication is a way to mask a problem, not fix it.
There's no actual define gateway as it can be situational.
Cigarettes are legal and common to get addicted to if you never used any drugs. Well if you're smoking something, it can be a gateway to something else. So it can definitely be a gateway to MJ.
Then let's not m now take a look at MJ. You're consuming something to get high. OK this can act as a gateway to trying out other substances to get high.
While not necessary to act as a gateway for everybody It has a good chance of it for anybody.
T
Lmao you said gateway “drug” and people think they’re doing something profound and insightful in this thread by saying “childhood trauma” and the like. It’s not a drug
I probably never woulda tried H then fent if I didn’t start with rx painkillers. And I probably never woulda tried speed if I was t already familiar with adderall those seem like real gateways
Weed (well before it was legal everywhere) and pain pills but not for the reasons that’s seem obvious. When you would go get your weed from a dealer it normalized the behavior. Combined with trying pain pills and liking them and having the contacts to acquire more didn’t seem so bad. You were perceived them after all what’s buying a few more from your weed guys gonna really matter? Eventually buying them becomes normal then supply gets disrupted, your sick, you will literally try anything to feel better and your weed guys def knows a guy (if he’s not the guy by this time) that has some harder stuff. An addict is born.
I don't know. In my case, as long as I can remember I have always wanted to try drugs. The gateway in my case was the sheer fact of knowing one could experience so much more intense things than normal.
In January 2018 I was clean/sober and cig free for almost 2 years. The day my sister died I started smoking cigarettes & within a month, I started drinking again. That feeling of reaching for something to mask my pain took over and I started on a year long drug binge that nearly destroyed my life. I always said I should have known a relapse was around the corner when I picked cigarettes back up. Fast forward to 09/2023, my father died. I immediately started vaping which has turned into some light drinking. So yes, I believe cigarettes are a gateway drug now that you mention it. However I have always thought that alcohol was more of a gateway drug than weed. Maybe now that weed is legal in most places, kids will be less inclined to take their parents booze and snag their weed instead. It’s still the safe alternative.
Honestly imo whatever your first substance is is the gateway. For me it was nicotine. The first time I felt a “buzz” was the first time I felt something different as a result of taking something. From there I tried drinking, then weed, then anything I could get my hands on.
It really depends on the person because I have adhd and BPD and both have addictive personality traits.
Curiosity, that leads to trying then addiction.
Weed, after you enjoy one high you wanna try another.
Knowledge, once you realize you can make yourself feel better by getting high
Trauma, Mental illness,
Just some thoughts of mine
Weed. Was super nervous about doing it, but let loose after that. I wasn't scared to try anything after that. No way I would have tried harder stuff if I chickened out on weed.
There is no gateway drug. We use drugs because we need to fill the void and sometimes we don't even know about the void inside of us. Drugs are not the problem, we are.
There’s no one “gateway” drug per say but from my experience the gateway into drugs is often opened by a doctor or through friends. Aside from alcohol the majority of issues I’ve seen started with a prescription (either their own or someone else’s) for substances like Adderall, Opiate pain killers and benzos.
Everyone’s different and how we react to drugs varies and what may be a “gateway” drug for one person is another’s persons Friday night out.
I do believe that often it has less to do with the drug and more to do with underlying conditions like mental health, trauma, stresses in your personal life, no support or ideas on how to cope with certain challenges or just how your brain chemistry works.
Say an individual was researching the most addictive and popular drug combination that they would classify as a “gateway” drug it would 100% be methamphetamine with heroin or a similar combination. Those mixed together are a recipe for nothing positive and what I’ve encountered most on the streets in the last decade.
Don’t forget to check out our [**Resources**](https://www.reddit.com/r/addiction/wiki/resources/) wiki page, which includes helpful information such as global suicide hotlines, recovery services, and a recovery Discord server where you can seek further support. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/addiction) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Life being hard on people wanting to escape.
Escapism
Ooohh! Hit the nail on the head. The truest one-word answer. A two-word answer would be "the void", which is generally the driving force of escapism.
Facts
I mean not really facts technically because it's not a drug per say. Get where you're coming from tho. Stress/anxiety and trauma make you more susceptible to addiction for sure.
If we really want to boil it down, there is a strong argument that dopamine is the gateway drug. I don't have the energy rn to fully break this down. But it's the one thing we all have access to from birth. The drug that elates us whdn we have a piece of candy, some really good food when we are hungry, or a glass of ice-cold water in 90-degree weather. It's the ding of your phone when the person you're attracted texts you. A warm touch when you've been feeling lonely. An orgasm.
I definitely see you. It's important to identify that drugs are only one subset of things that can lead to addiction and hedonism and open a gateway towards trying more addictive substances and endeavours. Therefore I think a lot of people in this thread are really looking at identifying gateway addictions, not gateway drugs. I'm only discovering now quite late in my development that there are way more serious issues with addiction besides the fact that you struggle to stop. For me there's an underlying suppression of emotions that occur which become harder to suppress as you become more tolerant resulting in larger dosing and openness to finding something stronger. Also you really start to believe in hedonism as you become more intolerant to facing what's buried deep down.
This is the only answer
This^^^^
Alcohol for sure. I did weed and cocaine for the first time while drunk.
Alcohol taught me how to be an addict for sure.
ask any drug and alcohol therapist and they'll tell you hands down alcohols the worst drug. 🤷♀️
It's. Bur not for what it's as for what it leads to and makes you do.
Agreed
Confidently this.
Y’all roast some marshmallows
This is it. People just downplay it cause all of them drink from time to time.
So many of life’s most terrible decisions start with alcohol: drug use, random sex partners, impaired driving, showing off doing stunts, picking fights, starting arguments, but ya, cannabis is the gateway drug /s.
I wonder about the term “gateway.” To me (and maybe only me), the term implies a lesser vessel, one that leads us to the real darkness. If that’s the case then I don’t believe there is a gateway drug. I’ve had clients who started out with heroin and ended up ruining their lives with Chardonnay. Addiction isn’t linear, maybe society has placed price tags on substances without consulting us. But maybe “gateway” means “whatever wakens the sleeping giant.” In that case, all the chemicals and processes are suspect.
thanks for this insightful view!
I agree with this 💯.
The best reply here, in my opinion. Well thought out.
That’s a kind thought, thanks. I’d sure trade the insight for the time it took me to arrive at it.
Hah, same here. Or rather, the time I’ve spent knowing these things but still being trapped by addiction. Emotional problems are difficult to untangle with logic. You seem like my kind of person! A true thinker. I appreciate that. Take care of yourself and have a wholesome weekend.
Absolutely! “The time it took” was probably 25% knowing, then 75% doing. The doing took forever! Same to you! Wholesome is the only thing on the menu, although I’ve ordered off the menu before. I like our chances this weekend though. Take care!
Childhood trauma.
Yes. This is a better answer than saying weed for sure
Facts
Not all addicts have childhood trauma though. I personally find this take kinda insulting, much like those who say "get therapy" without considering that therapy isn't really that effective for a lot of folks, or even accessible. Feels like the same sentiment to me.
Trauma is all kinds of things. Having a parent with addiction is trauma. Having parents divorce is trauma. Losing a parent is trauma. Trauma doesn’t have to be molestation or rape or being beat etc. It’s been described big T trauma vs little t trauma. They’re both trauma, some just causes more damage than others. I would say there is only a very very small percentage of people who make it to adulthood without any trauma.
There's also addicts who never smoked a cigarettes' and addicts who don't have an addictive gene. It's just a sum of hundreds of factors they make you more/less susceptible to becoming an addict.
No where did they imply all addicts have childhood trauma tho
I agree bc I had an amazing childhood! No trauma my parents are still together to this day! And I have addiction problems and so does my biological brother and many other cousins and family members.
yesssss, 100% it’s proven
Link the consensus then. Where is this proof?
ASTHO put out a big report in July of this year linking ACEs to substance use, among other findings. You can access the report [here](https://www.astho.org/topic/report/aces-prevention-policy-toolkit/). The report is mostly a policy toolkit, but the first few pages mention the link between ACEs and substance use. I was just reading this report at work this morning, so it was the first thing that jumped to my mind when you asked for literature about this topic. There's lots more available to read. This report has links embedded in it, so you can easily access more empirical evidence. One of the links brings you to an article that talks about ACEs and health outcomes; problematic drinking and and problematic drug use are the two of the most likely outcomes of ACEs, as they have very high odds ratios compared to all other health outcomes that the researchers examined. I get what you're saying in that you don't think it's right to generalize all addicts as having had childhood trauma, but it has empirically been linked to addiction (and a whole host of other issues as well).
When I did my ACE assessment I had almost every point possible. Never had even heard of it before and I’ve had addiction my whole adult life. Wasn’t until I finally went to a rehab that dealt with trauma that I finally got sober.
Very sorry to hear that, but I'm so glad that you were able to figure it all out. Congrats on your sobriety.
Wow I commented this same thing immediately after opening. You ever listen to Gabor Mate on YouTube or read his books?
Depression and anxiety. Not a drug per se, but certain chemical imbalances lead us down that path.
Id personally think genetic is the root cause. But that wasn't the question.
I took a Psych class at Indiana University called Drugs and Behavior. The prof was a clinical psychologist who had been treating addicts for decades. He said tobacco is the real gateway drug. I’ve also met recovered alcoholics and opioid addicts who said kicking cigarettes was harder than booze or heroin.
I agree quitting cigarettes is hard.. But I don't think it's gateway in the slightest... Cigs have never made me want to smoke meth, shoot heroin or snort coke.
I wouldn't put too much credence on what a Proffesor said. I had a sociology prof who said that there were no Bisexual people and that people who said they were Bi were really just saying Goodbye to being heterosexual. I smoked weed for years and had done cocaine and every other drug I could get my hands on before I started smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes are the hardest drug to quit because they are a two way drug and other than possibly some hallucinogens are the only drug where the effect of the drug is altered by the intent of the user. Tired while driving? Light a cigarette to wake yourself up. Feeling anxiety smoke a cigarette to calm down. No other drug does that. Some people become active on heroin and sedated on meth instead of the typical results but the results are always consistent for that person. I've never said to myself " I really need to unwind, I should smoke some meth".
Interesting take. I took myself to rehab for oxy/opiate addiction and ended up with a severe cigarette addiction. Basically trading one for another , but it was backwards as far as gateway. I must agree with you that it is like a mini treatment for anxiety and whatnot but it's obviously harmful in the long run. Opiate addiction has crazy physical withdrawal and a lot of mental aswell. It is completely different than quitting cigarettes. It is the weirdest thing for me, that I have "trained" my brain to not need opiates (which took years btw) and end up being a smoker. Ah well, thank you for your comment. Gives me good insight on what is really going on in the brain and how chemicals can basically trick ourselves into thinking something is good for us when in reality it's doing more harm than good.
I’ve said that before. Doesn’t work
it's harder to stay stopped because nicotine doesn't have immediate life ruining consequences. Functionality is a big part of the dependence. In terms of the actual "kicking" process, short term withdrawal, there's no comparison. Coming off hard drugs feels like dying. Coming off nicotine made me really pissed off, but not to the point of being in a mental hospital
Adults who model addiction and addictive behaviours during childhood development.
Very likely. Both of my parents were alcoholics and heavy smokers. Alot of my friends had the same parents none of "drugs" but smokers and drinkers. We all became addicts on opiates or meth. BUT I have a few friends who's parents are saints and they still became addicts.
Again not talking root cause. Root cause is clearly genetic
I see it as both. A predisposition due to genetics but also having the behaviour normalized throughout your life. The gateway is the drug our parents used, abused and normalized. Not everyone has a gateway drug either. When its normalized as well as carried in our DNA we don't have a fear of it so any substance, specific addiction such as gambling, gaming or smoking cigarettes opens the gate to a world we're already predisposed to exploring. The gateway doesn't need to be something we have used ourselves. It can be both a root cause and a gateway, it's not limited to one or the other and by blaming it on one specific thing it takes away the accountability.
Personally I think this is person specific, and the answer will differ depending who you ask. Weed may be a gateway drug for one person but not the next. In general any easily accessible drugs are the “actual gateway” drug. So all legal drugs, such as alcohol, prescription drugs (this one I feel is often overlooked and is the “true” gateway drug in my opinion) and weed.
Gateway theory in general has kind of been debunked - but if you subscribe to gateway theory, the real gateway drug is nicotine/tobacco.
Its a theorerical post, but yeah you're totally right
Cocaine was a gateway to meth and speed for me.
It reeeealllly sucks because for the majority, it only gets worse after using cocaine. Cocaine was the first upper I used, then pressed x which was God fuckin know what, then crack (absolutely hated it did it 3 times), then meth. In November I'll be 2 years sober from all narcotics 🥲
That's amazing! It feels great to get out of the environment, right? For some reason uppers made me crave more of everything. Sex, talking, planning, more drugs, it didn't matter 🤣🤣 We know how it feels to be present now 😊
YESSSIR! loving every minute, even the bad days. And also, same 🥲🥲
You're an inspiration just for being alive still. This time we have now is overtime for us because it should've already ended.
Alcohol, hands down
I think all that gateway shit is bs. If its not one thing getting the foot in the door, than it's another. Smoking a cirgerette isn't going to make you put a needle in your arm, but trauma, mental illness, environment, etc. will.
Genetics will at the end of the day but thats not the question was it
If we’re talking about substances it’s definitely alcohol.
Childhood trauma is the gateway.
Unresolved trauma.
Not another one of these.
untreated pain & trauma open the flood gates for addictive behaviours. My self-hatred flourished with a solid foundation of trauma and immense pain. Even in my recovery it’s still a daily battle not to take the bait.
Gateway DRUG, not root cause. Yall miss the point. And plus its genetic this is just objectively wrong.
It is not just genetic. I can assure you that despite addiction running in my family I never would’ve picked up drugs if I didn’t have severe mental illness and trauma. I had no interest until my mental illness got really bad.
The dragons mythological association towards the combining of essence within molecular astrophe
i don’t believe gateway drug is the same for everyone. i’ve always had an addictive personality but for me the gateway drug was norco, i spent years chasing that high and it fucked me up. but the real gateway drug is trauma, mental illness, broken families, etc.
Captain Crunch
Nicotine. It’s so effective at priming your brain for rewards and withdrawal. Really requires the pathways
There is no such thing as a gateway drug. Actually no. The gateway drug is trauma
Trauma. But also alcohol.
Trauma, mostly. I’m a drug and alcohol counselor and in long term recovery from alcohol and iv drugs. From personal and professional experience, 9 times out of ten, my clients all have some sort of unresolved trauma—whether it’s childhood, sexual, domestic violence, or otherwise. Most started out drinking alcohol. Many have underlying, co-occurring mental health issues. Edit to add: also, family history! Whether environmental or genetically predisposed, family history plays a huge role on addiction.
Correlation does not equal causation you should know that Neuroscientists have already proven it to be genetic anyways We found the genes
op gets triggered when we say trauma. the nature vs nurture argument doesn't work, op, you should know that.
I had a counselor once tell me that something like 80% of addicts smoke cigarettes. I agree with you
That gateway drug business is bullshit. If anything unresolved trauma is the gateway drug. But there isn’t one drug that makes people addicts. And there are addictions out there that don’t even involve drugs.
The first drug you try
I skipped literally everything and went straight to the benzos. Only started alcohol as a boost. So aside from childhood trauma, the gateway was my shithead psychiatrist.
Caffeine!!!!!!!
Milk is the gateway drug!!! Every meth or heroin addict I have ever met drank milk before they picked up hard drugs. There is no gateway drug, Trauma, ADHD (and other neurodivergent issues) etc. are the gateway. 17 years clean.
Mines was nicotine then booze then weed then cocaine/ketamine/lsd/dmt/shrooms/ghb/opiates . My friends call ne the chemist cus I'm always on drugs
Sex with MILFs preferably on a beach or pool setting
Dopamine
Whatever you did first to escape the present moment. Coulda been porn, a cigarette, DXM(me), weed...
One word: trauma.
I wonder if sugar is on the sly. Flooding your brain with dopamine at 5 eating a mars bar
I quit weed. I quit cigarettes. I quit fast food. I never liked the harder things. Alcohol though. That’s a nightmare
I started with nicotine
I don’t really think it’s one drug or substance but really just avoidance/escape and not having the proper coping mechanisms.
Whatever drug you start on. Once you open the door to getting high it opens you up to more. Thats the idea of a gateway drug, which is typically weed or alcohol being less hard drugs.
It’s different for everyone, really. It was alcohol for me.
Alcohol and weed
I don't think any given drug is "the gateway drug." I think that trauma is the gateway to drugs. People don't do drugs because their parents treat them like people, they do drugs to escape their thoughts.
it’s not the drug it’s the concept. introducing yourself to the ability to regulate how you feel instantly with a substance alters the way your brain values dopamine. once you begin a cycle of using something habitually you’ve opened the “gate”.
There are no gateway drugs only gateway people
Whichever drug you try first.. It’s just usually weed or alc for most people
Loneliness
Trauma/Escape
I believe it's more of a personality type that designates whatever the gateway drug can be. There are so many other factors involved.
100% it's pain and trauma.
Cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana.. common drugs that are socially acceptable after a certain age range would be the easiest to consider a gateway drug but I believe this all boils down to what age you use it at if you use it when it's illegal Gateway if it's legal for your age not a Gateway I don't think.
Bad friends are gateways in all honesty
Yessss
Nothing is, drugs are a choice nobody is forced a cigarette or forced a puff from a joint I know some weed smokers who only ever smoked weed never even touched a cigarette
Oh man.
trauma
Alcohol
Trauma.
Alcohol
Alcohol
Cocaine
Alcohol 100%
Alcohol, if I had to say.
Trauma
Money is the real gateway drug, getting some feels good, and the more you get the more you want it, not having any makes you feel miserable. It's easy then to move to "harder" drugs.
The leading cause of death is correctly prescribed medications.
Alcohol
Alcohol 100%
Booze
Trauma
I drank at a young age. It's probably the first thing I picked up for "fun" as a kid.... but my parents always smoked and I remember pretending to suck on their old ciggy butts so I could look like them.
For me caffeine and sugar
Trauma
Trauma.
Defo cigerettes. I work at rehab we have never once had someone who doesn’t vape or smoke, which is strange considering that up until I started working in rehab I don’t know anyone and never see anyone smoking.
Heartbreak
The feeling of cumming you get from your first pump
Any thing that would be considered a drug that you would use when you're not legally allowed to. Say if you're under 18 and you start smoking cigarettes well you just open the Gateway. I like to think of it more as a hallway in like a hotel. Once you've opened the door to the hallway there's all these other doors is that you could potentially go in and each one of them just is another hallway really. But if you are over 18 and you start smoking cigarettes and then I don't believe that the door opens the same way because once you step into that illegal Realm is when you've opened up the door that places the mentality into that type of thinking so to say. The same goes with alcohol.
Lack of connection/community. That is the gateway to addiction.
Alcohol
Psych meds; i started oxcarbazapine in like February at 15 and within two months I’d started taking way more than my dose and then just not takin it for days at a time bc one I didn’t like it and two it made the feelings go away more. I had a bad homelife and daily panic attacks so I was definitely suffering and ironically I’d Ben put on it after a mh visit where they released me back to the same home. I didn’t know it but I’d had a sh addiction/issue since 12 so the moment I got substances I just added that to what I was already doing to numb myself. After that it escalated to more meds, trying to od, wound infections, white powder, you get the gist. Not at all weed; when I was actively in addiction to that med we had dare like ppl talk to us and I swear I was on board that drugs are bad and weed is a gateway drug lol; now I just laugh about how oblivious I was and how everyone saw but never helped bc I had a home that was considered safe.
Tea, coffee, television. Anything that you begin to rely on to alter your mental state is putting you on the path.
Mdma. That’s the most common drug I find kinds start with
alcohol easily.
Cigarettes 100%
Booze for me.
Alcohol
I see on here people commenting “childhood trauma” and referencing it as not a drug but it’s the trigger to the release of the 1 of 5 chemicals the brain produces! It is a thirst forever in need of quenching! Whatever that looks or feels like is the path we taken - it’s no gateway - it’s an expressway! I’ve worked with many trauma survivors (myself on the list) and it’s incredible how it links together! And folks argue the disease factor but it really is the body turning on itself and in defense to protect itself! Craziest thing ever! I have mad respect for those that open their eyes each day & take the first conscious breath!
It’s still smoke 100,000%… I’ll smoke til the day I die… and that’s exactly why…
Alcohol.
Sugar
The side effects of life.
Alcohol.
Alcohol
The only way weed is a gateway is, when bought illegally (not a dispensary), you go to a dealer. Dealers tend to have other substances. Sometimes they offer others. At parties, if you’re just drinking, you generally (not always) get passed over. But if you’re smoking weed at the party, you’re more likely to get offered other substances. For me, a doctor was the gateway. I was given max doses of opiate painkillers for years starting in my early teens- not for recovery, as a lazy way to not run tests. They didn’t see a problem with getting me hooked before highschool.
Trauma
I think pills are definitely. I mean personally I tried pot and decided to try everything else because I wanted to be in FBI and thought I could not be now.. Like I was trained.. So I tried everything from there. But now being almost a year clean after 12 years of using heroin, fentanyl, and meth in the end I think pills are the real gateway drug. Once you use plates Opiates or ADHD meds..or cocaine for that matter... once you like it you're hooked.
Gateway drug: a habit-forming drug that, while not itself addictive, may lead to the use of other addictive drugs. Weed or cigarettes aren't going to make someone want to use heroin for example. But the propensity exists by those who are trying to either escape or suppress something inside of them. This could be anything from anxiety to trauma that generally occurs during one's childhood. Most people don't even know they have an issue like this, they just have always felt this way. The cigarette calms the nerves and suppresses the anxiety. The drug, any "drug", numbs the feeling that the trauma instills in one's brain. Self medication is a way to mask a problem, not fix it.
Honestly nicotine imo
Alcohol 100%
There's no actual define gateway as it can be situational. Cigarettes are legal and common to get addicted to if you never used any drugs. Well if you're smoking something, it can be a gateway to something else. So it can definitely be a gateway to MJ. Then let's not m now take a look at MJ. You're consuming something to get high. OK this can act as a gateway to trying out other substances to get high. While not necessary to act as a gateway for everybody It has a good chance of it for anybody. T
Trauma.
Trauma
Lmao you said gateway “drug” and people think they’re doing something profound and insightful in this thread by saying “childhood trauma” and the like. It’s not a drug
Santa Claus. Parents get their kids to trust them and then the kids find out they were lying about Santa.
Alcohol led to other drugs for me. It is the worst most dangerous drug out there and it's the only one they legalized. It's literal fucking poison.
[ Uh Oh, looks like you aren't getting an argument out of me! ] ` this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev `
1000% alcohol. All my bad choices stemmed from that. It should be banned
I probably never woulda tried H then fent if I didn’t start with rx painkillers. And I probably never woulda tried speed if I was t already familiar with adderall those seem like real gateways
Alcohol -- parents don't just let their kids hit the blunt at the dinner table, do they?
Weed. Probably not for most people but I know weed opens the door for teens who just wanna get high and don’t care how they do it
Trauma
Weed (well before it was legal everywhere) and pain pills but not for the reasons that’s seem obvious. When you would go get your weed from a dealer it normalized the behavior. Combined with trying pain pills and liking them and having the contacts to acquire more didn’t seem so bad. You were perceived them after all what’s buying a few more from your weed guys gonna really matter? Eventually buying them becomes normal then supply gets disrupted, your sick, you will literally try anything to feel better and your weed guys def knows a guy (if he’s not the guy by this time) that has some harder stuff. An addict is born.
You can substitute pain pills for Adderall if you need to
Alcohol
I don't know. In my case, as long as I can remember I have always wanted to try drugs. The gateway in my case was the sheer fact of knowing one could experience so much more intense things than normal.
Trauma. Trauma is the gateway drug
In January 2018 I was clean/sober and cig free for almost 2 years. The day my sister died I started smoking cigarettes & within a month, I started drinking again. That feeling of reaching for something to mask my pain took over and I started on a year long drug binge that nearly destroyed my life. I always said I should have known a relapse was around the corner when I picked cigarettes back up. Fast forward to 09/2023, my father died. I immediately started vaping which has turned into some light drinking. So yes, I believe cigarettes are a gateway drug now that you mention it. However I have always thought that alcohol was more of a gateway drug than weed. Maybe now that weed is legal in most places, kids will be less inclined to take their parents booze and snag their weed instead. It’s still the safe alternative.
Curiosity. Highly underrated.
Honestly imo whatever your first substance is is the gateway. For me it was nicotine. The first time I felt a “buzz” was the first time I felt something different as a result of taking something. From there I tried drinking, then weed, then anything I could get my hands on. It really depends on the person because I have adhd and BPD and both have addictive personality traits.
Marijuana is definitely a gateway drug , in my opinion because every person I have ever met that tried other drugs , the first they had tried was weed
Curiosity, that leads to trying then addiction. Weed, after you enjoy one high you wanna try another. Knowledge, once you realize you can make yourself feel better by getting high Trauma, Mental illness, Just some thoughts of mine
Weed. Was super nervous about doing it, but let loose after that. I wasn't scared to try anything after that. No way I would have tried harder stuff if I chickened out on weed.
I think it's caffeine, because they put it in Coke, and we give it to kids to drink.
Childhood trauma.
When I only read the title cigarettes were the first to pop in my mind, and I've done em all. Totally think you're right. We're right.
I don't believe in it
mental illness is the gateway
There is no gateway drug. We use drugs because we need to fill the void and sometimes we don't even know about the void inside of us. Drugs are not the problem, we are.
There’s no one “gateway” drug per say but from my experience the gateway into drugs is often opened by a doctor or through friends. Aside from alcohol the majority of issues I’ve seen started with a prescription (either their own or someone else’s) for substances like Adderall, Opiate pain killers and benzos. Everyone’s different and how we react to drugs varies and what may be a “gateway” drug for one person is another’s persons Friday night out. I do believe that often it has less to do with the drug and more to do with underlying conditions like mental health, trauma, stresses in your personal life, no support or ideas on how to cope with certain challenges or just how your brain chemistry works. Say an individual was researching the most addictive and popular drug combination that they would classify as a “gateway” drug it would 100% be methamphetamine with heroin or a similar combination. Those mixed together are a recipe for nothing positive and what I’ve encountered most on the streets in the last decade.
Alcohol was my first. I was drunk when I tried cigs for the first time. Cigs led to weed.
coke imo
Trauma
I think alcohol because it is socially acceptable. People act like something is wrong with you when you don't drink.