Main Menu

(18) Quit Smoking

What is meant by “tobacco is a gateway drug”?

A gateway is an entrance to a new and usually unexplored area.

With respect to drugs, a gateway drug is one that opens the door to the possibility of using other drugs in addition to that first drug. It is also a drug that one desires to combine with other drugs, such as drinking alcohol or coffee with smoking cigarettes.

 Tobacco is more often the first drug used by young people, who then, by virtue of their positive experience with it, may enter a sequential process of other drug use and experimentation. These other drugs include alcohol, marijuana, and sometimes “harder” drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. According to the Surgeon General’s Report of USA, 12- to 17-year-old teens, who stated that they were smokers, were three times more likely to use alcohol, eight times more likely to smoke marijuana, and twenty-two times more likely to use cocaine, than their nonsmoking peers. Adolescents who smoke are also more likely to engage in other risky behaviors.

In a study that examined tobacco and drug cravings, it was found that there is a connection between tobacco smoking and illicit drug use. There is a correlation between the number of cigarettes that a person smokes and the likelihood he or she will use illegal drugs, suggesting that nicotine and other substances may share similar brain pathways that reinforce the cravings for each drug.

The results of teen surveys and research studies demonstrating teen use of cigarettes and other drugs strongly support the idea that cigarettes are a “gateway drug” that can lead to other drug use.

 

Share

Translate

ar bg ca zh-chs zh-cht cs da nl en et fi fr de el ht he hi hu id it ja ko lv lt no pl pt ro ru sk sl es sv th tr uk

Verse of the Day

Global Map