Marijuana isn't a gateway drug, I believe it's the people we're exposed to and the conversations we have, and the implied lifestyles we witness and want to model for ourselves.
and some candy should be expected to be too sweet.
So, I believe it's the people, not the plant, Cannabis. Example, (and 'nuff said): "Try talking drugs to a clerk at Liquor Barn."
Funny Example #2: "it was, you know, that chick's coked-up Mom and her biker boyfriend, the guy who taught me what a "spoon" is, as he sold me a quarter of one, that was more of a gateway than the doobie I smoked with them...again, I think that makes the point really well, hahaha, I wanted a piece of THAT lifestyle. (Odd, it got lonelier and lonelier after that, should have stuck with weed, met nice people when i stuck to weed!)
Most adults in California who blaze show a GREAT DISDAIN for even mention of any other drug.
There's a small percentage of us who just have a pre-disposition, and the right kind of education I believe can mitigate that. And that's where the money should be spent. Not on Private Prisons full of black men (man, the survivor's guilt I carry about that!)
We need to repeal legislation around drug law (but how?), and shift to a more "health issue" oriented stance as a society.
Take the money away from gangs, even if it means legalizing everything 100%
take it back to scratch, move immediately to getting people rehabilitated and integrated into society, not in prisons.
do we want to keep legislating to the lowest common denominator or just treat those who can't control it?
I think the US should become the worlds largest buyer of coca, directly from the south american farmers, and cut the middle-men out. sure we'd have a rise in kidnappings, but it would take the money out of our kid's hands so they could concentrate on what it takes to make it, through school or other learning. dots we dont connect when we're involved with the illegal.
So part of the problem is that people jump to criminal instead of, "health issue," I think for the same reason we go to the gun. Part of being American, I hope we can change to being more compassionate, and thinking, if that was a family member i'd want them to get treatment before prison (and we should really be made to understand how much we spend on each person in jail, and how it's effecting the other criminal cases, as opposed to keeping them part of the tax base).