Tonight in our Marijuana 101 series,
we ask if marijuana is a gateway drug.
Now many believe that smoking pot
actually leads to using harder substances.
10 news reporter Shannon Smith
breaks down. Why doctors say yes
and no. Drug addictions
have to start somewhere.
I've never had anyone who said
that heroin was the first drug
that they ever tried or used.
Hilda Phipps with the Helen
Ross McNabb Center says it
starts with a gateway drug.
That's a habit forming.
Substance that may lead to the
use of other addictive drugs.
Somebody is taking a substance
to change the way they feel.
The $1,000,000 question among
doctors is marijuana a gateway drug?
The Centers for Disease Control
says no, and others agree.
For the majority of folks, I would say no.
Addiction medicine specialist Doctor
Mark McGrail works with patients
at Cherokee Health Systems who deal
with different drug addictions.
Not everybody who smokes marijuana goes
on to develop either a substance use.
Disorder or use another illicit substance.
The National Institute on Drug
Abuse reports that same thing.
But what about the marijuana users who
do go on to develop a stronger addiction?
The National Survey on Drug use
reports people who are addicted
to marijuana are three times more
likely to be addicted to heroin.
For people who have some other risk
or predisposition to addiction,
I would say that very often marijuana
is the first substance used.
Cases like that, marijuana
could be called a gateway drug.
Doctors say your home life,
peers, family, environment and
genetics all play into if it will
lead to a stronger addiction.
But Weed isn't the only thing
that may make your brain likely
to respond to other drugs.
I think our two biggest gateway drugs in
this country are tobacco and alcohol.
We don't tend to look at tobacco
and alcohol because they're,
quote, legal as gateway drugs,
but that's where most people start
and people start pretty young.
The age of first use is generally 12.
And that's of any substance.
That's because gateway drugs are often
what people find laying around the house,
which in many states now includes pot.
It'll be on the night stand.
It'll be in the kitchen cabinet, because,
well, in that state you can do that.
Addiction specialists say for many people,
using weed, cigarettes or alcohol
don't lead to harder drug use,
especially if they're adults.
Really, it'd be ideal if they
would delay until around age 25,
when the prefrontal cortex is
fully developed in the brain.
And then the likelihood of having a
problem with substances or becoming
addicted is reduced dramatically.
So is marijuana a gateway drug?
Different drugs affect
different people different ways.
It all depends on who you are.
Here in Tennessee,
it is against the law to use marijuana,
but it is legal now to grow produce health.
And that change in the law is leading
to new challenges for authorities.
A hemp plant is coming up on the
left side of your screen and a
marijuana plant is on your right.
You can see it's almost
impossible to tell them apart.
And if that's not confusing enough,
some people think that the
plants do smell the same as well.
Right now, the Tennessee Bureau
of Investigation says it does.
Not have a way to determine the
THC levels in those plants.
Local agencies are also dealing
with the issue as more farmers
gain licenses to grow the crop.
The real distinction is the THC
level present in those plants,
and so that presents a problem to
us in law enforcement to be able to
distinguish when we have a plant,
what the level is in that plant and whether
it is marijuana or whether it is hemp.
The TBI Crime Lab is in the final
stages of developing an extraction
and analysis procedure as to why
the TBI doesn't have resources to
test THC levels back in March.
The spokesperson told us
when hemp was legalized,
they were not provided extra funding.
Right now at wbir.com,
you can find other stories
from our Marijuana 101 series.
There you can hear from a pharmacist
and former patient that used the drug.
And you can also hear from a lawmaker
and drug abuse prevention expert and
see the differences between hemp,
marijuana and CBD.
All that at wbir.com.