Ready for Retirement: The Gateway Drug Hypothesis

The psycho-social observation that the use of some psychoactive substances ("drugs") is often followed by the use of other and more problematic drugs has given rise to a cluster of so-called "gateway drug hypotheses," and such hypotheses have often played an important role in developing drug use policy. The current essay suggests that drug use policies that have drawn on versions of the hypothesis have involved an unjustified oversimplification of the dynamics of drug use, reflecting the interests of certain stakeholders rather than wise social policy. The hypothesis should be retired.