STUDY RAISES QUESTIONS ON POT AS GATEWAY DRUG

While marijuana use during the 1990s held steady in the nation's general
population, its popularity among 18- to 20-year-olds arrested for crimes
soared and is now epidemic, according to a report released Friday by the
U.S. Department of Justice.

Moreover, the study of 23 cities found that as marijuana use grew, crack
and heroin use declined significantly, raising questions about the
long-debated inevitability that rnarijuana use will lead to harder drugs.

"I think the findings are powerfully significant," said study co-author,
Andrew Golub, a senior researcher at the National Development and Research
Institute, a New York-based private, nonprofit foundation.

"Fifteen years ago, we documented that the use of cocaine, particularly
crack cocaine, was rampant among arrestees. Five years ago, we documented
that crack (use) was declining," Golub said.

"What we see today is that the drug of choice among arrestees is marijuana,
and that it is not serving as a gateway to something else," Golub said.