BTW folks...
Life is the gateway to drugs... let's not kid ourselves by blaming drug use or overuse on a/any drugs themselves!
Drug use is not necessarily because of a/any specific drug - life
is.
This includes - The general stress of life as well as plain ol' bawdy "fun times" with friends, and, of course depression, not to mention sickness as well as monkey-see monkey-do of youngsters growing up in families/arenas where some sort of drug is used too openly [i.e. over used].
And, yes, ALCOHOL is the most prevalent "legal" fun-drug in the world... seems MJ may soon follow suite regarding "legal" fun-drug as well as prescription-drug prevalence. Of course opioids are a whole other "BIG Business / Government Sanctioned" story with some doctors too often used as, [succumbing to becoming] prescription-drug dealers.
Now... let's get down to the nitty gritty of "Why"
any type if drug is used [or overused]: Answer is to alter physical feeling, change mental perception, cure sickness or, maybe, to simply get
really "fcked-up"!
So... that brings us back to "
Life is the gateway to drugs." Of course any drug used can be termed the stepping stone to some other type of drug use. And, any first used drug can be termed the "gateway" that opened doors to a person for more and varied types of drug use; that sometimes gets [spirals] out of control. But -
It Is Life's Conditions and just how bad anyone wants to [or needs to] alter their personal inner [physical, mental, emotional] conditions/realities that is the real "Gateway" to any type of drug use... be it controlled usage or over usage of any drug or group of drugs that sometimes manifests in a person's life.
I'd rather be boating!