A new study looking into patterns of drug use in Japan casts further doubt on the notion that marijuana is a gateway drug, concluding that cannabis use in the country usually comes after people first use alcohol and tobacco, and that they rarely go on to use other substances.
Published this month in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology Reports, the research—which authors describe as “one of the largest and most significant studies on community-based cannabis users in Japan to date”—also found that nearly half of respondents who reported marijuana as their third drug “did not go on to use other substances afterward.”
“Cannabis use in Japan typically follows alcohol and tobacco, and rarely leads to further drug use,” concludes the report, which was supported by the Japanese Clinical Association of Cannabinoids and the government’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. “These findings challenge the gateway hypothesis in the Japanese context.”