Prior Exposure to THC Increases the Addictive Effects of Nicotine

Tobacco use is believed to be a “gateway” to other drugs because it has been observed that its use usually precedes the use of other drugs. Marijuana is also viewed as a gateway drug to other drugs, but this paper explores the effects of marijuana on the likelihood of tobacco use. Rats in the lab were exposed to THC, the active chemical in cannabis, for three days through injections. A week later, the rats were allowed to self-administer nicotine. The results of the experiment showed that the rats that were previously exposed to THC showed a higher likelihood of administering the nicotine than the rats that had no prior exposure to THC (from 65% to 94%). Another finding from the nicotine experiment was that the rats that were exposed to THC administered nicotine more frequently than the ones that were not exposed. This experiment contradicts a previous experiment that the same research group had done, which explored the effect of prior exposure of THC on the use of cocaine or heroine – the results of that experiment showed no relation between the two. The fact that the results of the experiment did not show a correlation between THC exposure and likelihood of developing addictions to cocaine or heroine is a contradiction to the gateway hypothesis – one of the reasons that marijuana is illegal is because it is thought to be a gateway drug, however, this experiment shows otherwise. The only gateway that cannabis gives rise to is nicotine addiction. Nicotine is not a “hard” drug, though it could be debatable, since its use is fairly dangerous in the long run.

Source: http://www.nature.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/npp/journal/v38/n7/full/npp201316a.html