Drug Use among a Sample of Federal Drug Crime Defendants: Implications for the Gateway Effect Hypothesis

John David Reitzel; Sarah Huggins Scarbrough

doi:10.6000/1929-4409.2017.06.14

Authors

John David Reitzel California State University San Bernardino, USA
Sarah Huggins Scarbrough Richmond City Sheriff's Office, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6000/1929-4409.2017.06.14

Keywords:

Marijuana, Gateway Effect Hypothesis, Federal Drug Crime Defendants, Hard Drug Use, Regular Drug Use

Abstract

This study investigated the association between marijuana first before other drugs and alcohol and later hard drug among a convenience sample of federal drug crime defendants from one federal court in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Results from two binomial logistic regression models revealed statistically significant associations between first use of marijuana and regular drug use and hard drug use, respectively. Findings suggests a gateway effect for marijuana within this sample.

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