More than against drugs, I government commercial broadcast on Rai è an attack on cannabis. And like most of the news on the subject broadcast by the mass media, it is full of fake news that needs to be dismantled.
In the scenes, in fact, we see a boy who, while rolling a joint, is interrupted by a smaller one who suggests him to stop immediately, because "then it's just a moment that he switches to other drugs".
It is the umpteenth time that cannabis is described as a bridge between soft drugs and hard drugs. But that's not the case, absolutely. Cannabis is not a substance that, if consumed, leads to the use of other, decidedly more lethal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, on the contrary. There are numerous scientific studies that indicate it as a valid solution for detox.
Is cannabis a gateway drug? What science says
The idea that cannabis is a transient substance was born in the 1930s, at the height of prohibitionism in America, to criminalize that plant which has always accompanied the history of man, and which he was putting me in a corner the business of the American giants, because it is a sustainable source with a thousand uses.
In particular, the big names in plastic, paper, fuel and medicine have allied themselves under the leadership of Harry Aslinger, fervent prohibitionist and then director of the Bureau of Prohibition, to ban cannabis in favor of the God of money.
| For further information: “Marijuana is a gateway drug, the whole truth”
Fortunately, nowadays, with the growing acceptance of this plant, there are several studies that disprove the "passage theory". One of the first was conducted by scholars from the New York Academy of Medicine. This research openly states that “marijuana consumption it doesn't lead to an addiction to morphine, heroin, or cocaine. And cases in which the habit of smoking marijuana is associated with dependence on these narcotics are extremely rare."
One study most recent, published in the scientific journal Psychological Medicine, was accomplished by the University of Colorado and the University of Minnesota on 4 thousand twins: 40% in a state where recreational cannabis use is legal, Colorado, and 60% where it is not, Minnesota.
After analyzing the individuals the two separate moments: before 2013: the year in which Colorado legalized cannabis, and after, the Dr. Christian Hopfer, co-author of the study, concluded that “as regards the moderate use of cannabis, which was true for the majority of subjects, legalization does not appear to increase the risk of substance use disorders."
