Cannabis use and other illicit drug use: testing the cannabis gateway hypothesis
Cannabis use and other illicit drug use: testing the cannabis gateway hypothesis
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1360-0443.2005.01322.x
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发表时间：
2006-04-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6
通讯作者：
Horwood, LJ
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Fergusson, DM;Boden, JM;Horwood, LJ
目的研究大麻使用频率与其他非法药物使用频率之间的关系。设计一项为期25年的纵向研究的健康，发展和调整的出生队列的1265名新西兰儿童。获得了14-25年期间大麻使用频率的年度评估，以及同一时期其他非法药物使用的计量。结果-大麻使用的频率显着相关的使用其他非法药物，其他非法药物滥用/依赖和使用的多样性的其他药物。这种关联在青春期特别强烈，但随着年龄的增长而迅速下降。使用随机和固定效应回归模型对固定和时间动态因素造成的混淆进行统计控制，降低了大麻使用频率与其他非法药物使用频率之间的关联强度，但即使在对未观察到的和时间动态的混淆来源进行控制之后，大麻使用频率与其他非法药物使用频率之间的关联仍然很强。经常或大量使用大麻与使用其他非法药物，滥用或依赖其他非法药物以及使用更广泛的其他非法药物的风险增加有关。使用、滥用/依赖和使用多种其他药物的风险随着年龄的增长而下降。这些发现可能支持一个一般的因果模型，如大麻网关假说，但这种网关背后的实际因果机制，以及这些因果机制是直接或间接的程度，仍然不清楚。
Aim To examine the associations between the frequency of cannabis use and the use of other illicit drugs. Design A 25-year longitudinal study of the health, development and adjustment of a birth cohort of 1265 New Zealand children. Measurements Annual assessments of the frequency of cannabis use were obtained for the period 14-25 years, together with measures of the use of other illicit drugs from the same time period. Findings The frequency of cannabis use was associated significantly with the use of other illicit drugs, other illicit drug abuse/dependence and the use of a diversity of other drugs. This association was found to be particularly strong during adolescence but declined rapidly as age increased. Statistical control for confounding by both fixed and time dynamic factors using random- and fixed-effects regression models reduced the strength of association between frequency of cannabis use and other illicit drug use, but a strong association between frequency of cannabis use and other illicit drug use remained even after control for non-observed and time-dynamic sources of confounding. Conclusions Regular or heavy cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of using other illicit drugs, abusing or becoming dependent upon other illicit drugs, and using a wider variety of other illicit drugs. The risks of use, abuse/dependence, and use of a diversity of other drugs declined with increasing age. The findings may support a general causal model such as the cannabis gateway hypothesis, but the actual causal mechanisms underlying such a gateway, and the extent to which these causal mechanisms are direct or indirect, remain unclear.