American Journal of Drug & Alcohol Abuse 1994 Nov.20(4):459-81. (Developmental vicissitudes that promote drug abuse in adolescents.)

Bailey SL, Flewelling RL, Rachal JV. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 1992; 33:51-66. (Predicting continued use of marijuana among adolescents: the relative influence of drug-specific and social context factors.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), March 10, 1994. (This analysis proves that, for too many children cigarettes are a drug of entry into the world of illicit drugs.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), March 10, 1994. (A 12- year-old who smokes is 30 times more likely to have used illicit drugs than a child of the same age who doesn't smoke.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), Oct. 27, 1994. (Children who use marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than non-marijuana users. 90% of children who used marijuana, smoked or drank first. Children who drink are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than non drinkers.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), Oct. 27, 1994. (Children who use gateway drugs - tobacco, alcohol and marijuana - are up to 266 times more likely to use cocaine than those who don't use any gateway drugs.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), Oct. 27, 1994. (Children who smoke daily are 13 times more likely to use heroin than children who smoke less often.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), Oct. 27, 1994. (Compared with people who used only one gateway drug [tobacco, alcohol and marijuana], children who used all three are 77 times more likely to use cocaine.)

Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), Oct. 27, 1994. (Study concludes: Nearly 90% of cocaine users had smoked, drank and used marijuana first.)

Chait, et al. 1981. Psychopharmacology 75 (1). (Cross tolerance between marijuana and barbiturates has been demonstrated. This means marijuana users also develop a tolerance for the addicting barbiturates, even before they use any barbiturates. This is more evidence of significant addictive potential of marijuana.)

Chen, et al. 1997. Drug and Alcohol Dependence (46). (Of 9,000 daily users of marijuana, 35% of the adolescents and 18% of the adults met the American Psychiatric Association's criteria for dependence (addiction), suggesting that teenagers are much more vulnerable than adults to developing and addiction to marijuana.)

Clark DB, Levent K, Moss HB. Early Adolescent Gateway Drug Use in Sons of Fathers with Substance Use Disorders. Addictive Behaviors 1998; 23: 561-566. (Preadolescent tobacco use and conduct disorders were highly predictive of early adolescent cannabis use achieving 100% sensitivity and 76% specificity.)

Compton DR, Dewey WL, Martin BR. Advances in Alcohol and Substance Abuse. 1990;9:129-147. (Cannabis dependence and tolerance production.)

Crowley TJ, Macdonald MJ, Whitmore EA, Mikulich SK. Cannabis dependence, withdrawal, and reinforcing effects among adolescents with conduct symptoms and substance use disorders. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 1998; 50:27-37. (Research from the University of Colorado examining the presence of marijuana dependence in adolescents who are seen for conduct disorders has demonstrated not only the presence of a clear marijuana dependence syndrome in adolescents, but also marijuana withdrawal. Most patients claimed serious problems with cannabis, and 78.6% met adult criteria for cannabis dependence. The drug produces both dependence and withdrawal and potently reinforces cannabis taking.)

Devane WA. Science. 1992; 258: 1946-1949 et al. (Isolation and structure of a brain constituent that binds to the cannabinoid receptor.)

Duffy A, Milin R. J. Am. Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1996;35:1618-21. Case Study: Withdrawal Syndrome in Adolescent Chronic Cannabis Users. (Documents clear withdrawal syndrome that jeopardized treatment.)

Fonseca FR, Carrera MRA, Navarro M, Koob GF, Weiss F. Science 1997; 276:2050-2053. Activation of corticotropin - releasing factor in the limbic system during cannabinoid withdrawal. (Withdrawal induced by cannabinoid antagonist SR 141716A was associated with elevation of extracellular corticotropin-releasing factor.)

Gfoerer, Joseph C, Epstein, Joan F. Federal Office of Applied Studies in SAMHSA. Drug And Alcohol Dependence, vol. 54 (1999) pp 229-237. (Article estimates drug abuse treatment needs for the years 2000-2020 based on current youth marijuana use. The exec. summary states, "Age at first use of marijuana was found to be the most important predictor in these models".  The article notes that marijuana "is generally the first illicit drug used by young people".

Gold MS. Marijuana. In: Miller NS, ed. Comprehensive handbook of drug and alcohol dependance. New York: Marcel Dekker, 353-82.

Golub A, Johnson BD, The Shifting Importance of Alcohol and Marijuana as Gateway Substances among Serious Drug Abusers. J. Stud Alcohol 1994;55: 607-614. (Marijuana's role as a gateway drug to serious drug use appears to have increased.)
 
 

Jones RT, Benowitz W, Bachman I. Ann NY Acad Sci 1976; 282: 21-239. (Clinical studies of cannabis tolerance and dependencies.)

Jones, RT. 1980 NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Monograph #31. (Marijuana tolerance occurs in humans; high doses produce less and less effect for the user over time.)

Jones RT, Benowitz NL, & Herning RI. 1981. J. Clin. Pharmacol., 21, 143S-152S.

Jones RT, Benowitz N. 1976. Braud MD & Szara S (Ed.), Pharmacology of Marijuana, Vol.2 (pp 620-642). New York: Raven Press. (The 30 Day Trip - Clinical studies of cannabis tolerance and dependence.)

Journal Psychopharmacology, April 1998. (A new study has found that chronic marijuana users become aggressive when they stop smoking the drug according to an April 20 press release from the National Institutes on Health. Researchers at Harvard Medical School found evidence that a withdrawal syndrome is associated with abstinence following long-term marijuana use. Researchers concluded that aggressive behavior is part of this syndrome.)

Kandel DB, Yamaguchi K, Chen K, Stages of Progression in Drug Involvement from Adolescence to Adulthood: Further Evidence for the Gateway Theory, J Stud. Alcohol; 1992: 447-457. (Very few try illicit drugs other than marijuana without prior use of marijuana.)

Kandel DB, Davies M, Archives of General Psychiatry 1996;53:71-80 . (High school students who use crack and other drugs.)

Kaplan HB Martin SS, Johnson RJ, and Robbins CA. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 1986; 27:44-61. (Escalation of marijuana use: Application of a general theory of deviant behavior.)

Kaufman E, et al. Committee on Drug Abuse of the Council on Psychiatric Services. Am J Psychiatry. 1987;144: 698-702. (Position statement on psychoactive substance use and dependence: update on marijuana and cocaine.)

Keer, et al. 1991,1994 American Psychiatric Assoc. DSM-IV, United States. Restricted activity days and other problems associated with use of marijuana or cocaine among persons 18 to 44 years of age. (Some marijuana users develop tolerance, abuse, and compulsive use that meet the criteria for formal diagnosis of dependence [addiction].)

Kelly TH, Foltin RW, Emurian CS, Fischman MW, J Exp Anal Behav, March 1994;61: 203-211. (Subjects consistently chose the 3.5% dose over either the 0.0% or 2.0% dose. Dose choice was more sensitive to THC content than either reports of drug liking or numbers of cigarettes smoked.)

Kendler KS, Prescott CA. Cannabis use, abuse, and dependence in a population based sample of female twins. American Journal of Psychiatry 1998; 155:1016-1022 (Genetic risk factors have a strong impact on the liability for heavy use, abuse, and dependence on marijuana.)

Kleber, Herbert, MD. 1988. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 49:2 (Suppl) pp 3-6. (20% of those who used marijuana 3 to 10 times went on to use cocaine. 75% of those who used marijuana 100 times went on to use cocaine.)

Lundqvist, Life Science, Vol. 56 pp 2145 - 2155. (Study describes cannabis dependence. Impaired cognitive skills and functioning were documented in chronic cannabis users.)

Martin, et al. 1997. Marijuana: Contemporary Issues in Treatment. (Marijuana "is most definitely addictive and we generally do not perceive of marijuana as having a great addictive potential because it is a long acting drug.")

Mendelson JH, Mello NK, & Lex BW. 1984 Am. J. Psychiatry, 414, 1289-1290. (Marijuana withdrawal syndrome in a woman.)

Miller NS, Gold MS. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 1989; 6:183-192. (The diagnosis of marijuana [cannabis] dependence.)

Miller NS, Gold MS, Pottash AC. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 1989; 6:241-250. (A 12-step treatment approach for marijuana [cannabis] dependence.)

Mirochnik, et al. Pediatrics 99:555-559, 1997. (The chronic use of cocaine, particularly when used with marijuana, sets up craving behavior by depleting brain dopamine and norepinephrine.)

Pedersen JM. Arctic Medical Research 1992 Apr;51(2):67-71. (Substance abuse among Greenlandic school children.)

Physicians' Desk Reference 1998. (Marinol, a pharmaceutical containing the synthesized active ingredient of marijuana, is available now with a doctor's prescription. It is addictive both psychologically and physiologically. Eleven withdrawal symptoms are listed.)

Simmons MS, Tashkin DP. Life Sciences 56:2185-2191, 1995. "The Relationship of Tobacco and Marijuana Smoking Characteristics." (Initiation of a new smoking habit can lead to reduced smoking of other substance regardless of which substance was smoked first. Of all smokers of both tobacco and marijuana, one half began smoking tobacco before marijuana, while one third began smoking marijuana first.)

Smith DE, Seymour RE. Vol.2. No.1: 49-54 Jan. 1997. Journal of Substance Misuse for Nursing, Health and Social Care.(2). (Marijuana withdrawal symptoms in humans include anxiety, depression, irritability, insomnia, tremors and chills.)

Solowij et al. Life Sciences, Vol. 56 pp 2127-2134, 1995. (Brain event-related measures normalize during acute marijuana intoxication, suggesting a basis for the physical dependence component of marijuana use.)

Stephens RS, Roffman RA, Simpson EE. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology 1993 Dec;61(6):1100-4. (Adult marijuana users seeking treatment.)

Tanda G, Pontieri FE, Di Chiara G. Science 1997;276:2048-2050. Cannabinoid and heroin activation of mesolimbic dopamine transmission by a common opioid receptor mechanism. (THC and heroin exert similar effects on mesolimbic dopamine transmission through a common opioid receptor mechanism located in the ventral mesencephalic tegmentum.)

Wickelgren. 1997. Science (276). (Two studies published in the June 27, 1997 Science complete the picture of marijuana as an addictive drug, demonstrating that marijuana affects the neurochemistry of the brain in ways similar to heroin, cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco. The strength of the dopamine surge in the brain created by marijuana was shown to be similar to that created by heroin. These studies provide physiological evidence for marijuana acting as a gateway drug that leads to other drug use. One researcher commented these studies "send a powerful message that should raise everyone's awareness about the dangers of marijuana use.")

Williams JG, Smith JP. Journal of Substance Abuse 1993;5(3):289-94. (Alcohol and other drug use among adolescents: family and peer influences.)