Rats taking cannabis get taste for heroin
Study suggests cannabis-users may be vulnerable to harder drugs.
Neuroscientists have found that rats are more likely to get hooked on heroin if they have previously been given cannabis. The studies suggest a biological mechanism — at least in rats — for the much-publicized effect of cannabis as a 'gateway' to harder drugs.
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Comments
"If we turned back the clock with the knowledge we have now, these two drugs would never have been legalized," Hurd says. (On nicotine and Alcohol)
It is interesting to consider the rapidity to which scientists cast moral judgements concerning the legality of substances based on the perceived biological, social and economic damage that they may cause. It might serve researchers well to review the cultural history of our species. The use of drugs within cultures is to a certain extent ubiquitous, from caffeine to opium, people today and throughout recorded time have purposefully attempted to alter there mental state for a variety of reasons. Why do we find a need to apply a moral tone to the use of drugs? It is an interesting question that does not have a clear answer, for instance can we judge the legality of a drug based purely on its capacity to harm us? Probably, however the issue becomes blurred by the various socio-political and economic factors that surround the application of the law.
Proving that cannabis may potenciate addiction to heroin in mice when applied to juvenile specimens is obviously valid research. However, we do not need scientists making claims about the legality of drugs based on the behaviour of mice. I like to have a glass of wine when I feel like it, thank god, and it will be a sad day when our mortal existence becomes so sterile that it is barely worth living because scientists think we shouldn’t do things that are bad for us.
Posted by: Benjamin J Ford | July 11, 2006 03:59 PM