I know this may sound stupid, but I don't believe in that whole "gateway drug" theory. There are a lot of different reasons why people use drugs that I don't have to explain, but it is my belief that if people are going to use drugs they will. Some of it is genes, but everybody makes their own choice, do they not? I mean, really, when people build up a tolerance for marijuana, people say they will move on to something harder, but why not just buy a higher grade? Either way it will cost more money.
People don't classify alchohol as a gateway drug, even though the good effects of it are largely similiar to weed. Think about it, if marijuana was legalized, sure, alot more people would have access to it, but then again alot of dealers and organized crime would go out of business. It is the same thing with cocaine and the like. But in cocaine's case it is too dangerous and addictive, so there really isn't much we can do about it except work harder to bust mules.