The Pot Argument

Marijuana is a "gateway" drug that leads directly to use of harder drugs, such as cocaine or heroin.

The short answer is no. Police continue to make the claim, although they now acknowledge that their argument is based on gut feeling and anecdotes. Academic researchers, including RAND, note there is a "correlation" but not a "causation." In other words, many people who use marijuana eventually use other drugs as well. But that's like saying many people who drive blue cars have brown eyes - does one cause the other?

Study after study has not proven a causal link, instead stating other likely causes, such as that people who have access to marijuana are likely to have easy access to other drugs. Or some people may be biologically prone to addiction. "We've done a lot of good studies," said Rosalie Pacula, co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center in California, "and the evidence is fundamentally inconclusive."

Society must keep marijuana laws in place, or teenage use will grow rampant.

Even as more states have decriminalized and sanctioned medical marijuana, and about 85 percent of 12th-graders report easy access to pot, the number of young users has fallen steadily since the 1990s. About 16.6 percent of Colorado teens ages 12 to 17 admitted smoking pot over the past year in 2005, down from 19.6 percent in 2003. Researchers point out, though, that the number of young heavy users has held steady at a worrisome 5 to 6 percent rate nationally.

Police defy public will by continuing to harass simple pot smokers.

It's true that national arrests for marijuana possession rose to 696,000 in 2005 from 646,000 in 2000, even as the percentage of Americans reporting that they used pot continued to fall. "Anyone who spends any time in courts, like me, knows the current system is an utter disaster," said Denver attorney Robert Corry Jr., who has defended prominent marijuana cases.

The Denver Post