Sequence, association, and risk of legal and illegal drug consumption in University students

The aim of this piece of research was to study the sequence of drug consumption progression and the relation between the initiation and intensity in the consumption of a type of drug and the previous consumption of another. In order to do so, a questionnaire on the consumption of drugs was given to 560 psychology students. The results confirm a hierarchical sequence and an association throughout the phases of drug consumption, which begins with legal substances (first alcohol and then tobacco), continues with cannabis, and finally other illegal drugs. Consumption of drugs at the beginning of the sequence, and its intensity, leads to a higher probability and risk of consumption of the drugs found at the end of the sequence. These facts are congruent with the sequence proposition and association proposition of the “gateway hypothesis”.