We Asked Young New Zealanders If Weed Is a Gateway Drug

In the lead up to WEED WEEK on VICELAND (April 17-23, from 6PM) we're running a series of stories on New Zealand's most widely-used illegal drug.

Pot. Grass. Broccoli. Weed. Cannabis. Whatever you call it, chances are it will be the first drug you managed to get your greasy pubescent hands on. The real question is, can you blame that half a joint you smoked with your cousin behind the back of the gym for the fact that you now can't seem to go out and enjoy yourself without snorting a line of eccies?

Ross Bell, the executive of the New Zealand Drug Foundation, says probably not. Ross told VICE, "The idea that there's something in cannabis that then leads you to try other substances has been debunked by science." The gateway element could be, however, the kick youth get from taking risks and the door that opens once you have contact with any kind of drug dealer. For this reason, Bell suggests: "Maybe if cannabis was not illegal, was regulated and kept separate from more serious substances, that would remove the gateway element and be a good thing."

We had a chat to young Kiwis at varying levels on the scale of drug use to finally put the question to bed. Is weed a gateway drug? Or are some people just born with their gate wide open?

What was the first drug you tried?
It's going to have to be marijuana.

Do you think weed led you to trying other substances?
No, I would say that partying led to that. Going out drinking to music gigs, festivals and all that sort of stuff. I have so many friends that were really sheltered and when they got freedom they just got out of control. My parents and siblings were always really open with me which is much better than just letting people go out and figure it out themselves.

In your opinion, is weed a gateway drug then?
No, not really. I don't know, it's a hard one but I don't think it's the worst one anyway. I feel like alcohol is probably more of a gateway drug than anything else. Just in terms of the situations I've been in anyway. I also know a lot of people that smoke weed but wouldn't touch anything else but that. I know more people like that then I do people who do every kind of drug under the sun.

Firstly, what was the first drug you ever tried?
Since watching That Sugar Film I've come to realise how much sugar was a drug addiction for me as a child. But in terms of illegal drug use, apart from some underage drinking, then weed would have been my first. I honestly find it pretty jarring smoking a joint outside a venue and seeing my drunk peers yelling, fighting, vomiting, crying or passed out on the footpath, yet the law deems what I'm doing to be immoral. So do you think weed lead you to smoking any other drugs?
Since I first smoked weed I have taken MDMA or LSD or something a few times a year, but I imagine I would have experimented with these regardless. What do you think was your gateway into those substances then?
Since weed is pretty easy to get and is seen to be relatively low risk, then it tends to be the first illicit drug people experiment with, so it could be considered a "gateway drug" in the sense that someone might try harder drugs afterwards. But I think most of that would also come down to how if someone doesn't turn into a wake'n bake dropout stoner right away, then they might start to question everything else they were told in the "just say no to drugs" style health curriculum in school. Like I did.

Was weed the first drug you experimented with?
No. I know this is really weird but I've actually never tried weed by itself. I've only ever had it once on a night with a mixture of all sorts.

Do you think you'll try weed by itself one day?
I don't really plan to because I'd rather do a pinger on the weekend to be honest. It's way more fun. It keeps me up all night and lets me party. I go to the club till like 4.30am and I'm just like thriving. Then I go to Pandora and get Croissants and wait for the comedown.

If weed wasn't your gateway drug, do you think anything else was?
I have always been a pretty curious person and so that's always gotten me into some pretty weird situations. It's not so much that anything was my gateway, more that I've never been very concerned with it all anyway. I think I'll worry a lot more about my drug use when I'm older but for now it's not like it's very often or a big deal at all really.

What was the first drug you ever tried?
Weed. I was at a park with the worst type of friends.

And do you think it led you to taking any other drugs?
No definitely not, it just made me really lazy. I know for sure it didn't make me try anything else because I only went into other drugs after I quit weed for a while.

What would you consider a gateway drug then?
Probably like MDMA or something. You kind of just keep on wanting more of that. Meth and Oxycon too, those are big ones I think. But I think if you're into meth you are well and truely through the gate to be honest. And if you're doing it often then you don't really have a gate anymore.

Was weed the first drug you ever tried?
Yeah, I first tried it with a few friends at my friend's parents house. It was pretty chill.

Did trying weed lead you to trying anything else?
No, not directly. Though I think the attitude in general for me that first led me to it could be more linked to having a compulsive nature. You are told from the age of 0 to 13 from your parents and your uncle and whoever else that weed is bad and makes you dumb. So it is an act of rebellion, it's an impulsive thing. You feel like you're doing something wrong. So I think that act could correlate to similar attitudes towards other drugs.

Why do you think people think weed is a gateway?
I think people don't think realise that THC isn't the problem, it's more of an attitude thing and the culture around it. Even the fact that I'm going to put my first name in this article, I think it just has this strange stigma attached to it and that's why it's so exciting for kids. The less it's considered safe the more cool it probably is. So it's less about the drugs, more about the people who use them.

Was weed the first drug you tried?
Yes but I wouldn't say I'm a stoner or anything. I've only ever done it a handful of times and never bought it for myself.

Do you think weed is a gateway drug?
I think maybe. But I'm not really sure. It definitely didn't make me feel inspired to try anything else really and I've only really tried very low key prescription pills like codeine on a night out. I've never tried MDMA or anything but if I did I don't think it would be because I've done weed before. It would just be because I feel like trying it once.

Why do you think weed smokers go onto other more serious drugs then?
To me weed is completely separate to drugs like MDMA. For me someone who smokes weed every day would be a real chilled out person who likes to relax and wears hemp and shit. On the other hand someone who's into more hard-core stuff is out in the clubs every weekend and just looking for a good time until like 5 AM. These are two very different people and while I know these are major stereotypes, people seem to usually end up picking a side.

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