[Blarg]

You're right that one of the most dangerous things about the way the government has handled drug propaganda is that when it so obviously completely lies about the horrors of pot, it brings into question everything else, including things even our pea-brained, lying, reactionary government(under any party) can't get wrong. Like, that other stuff actually IS pretty nasty and harmful.

If you want to talk about a gateway to other drugs, it isn't pot; it's lying. If the hysteria about pot turns out upon personal experience to be complete horseshit, as it does, it makes societal taboos and warnings about worse drugs seem far, far less plausible. So the drugs people really should keep away from or have very minimal contact with are, perversely, made to look perhaps a little safer and perhaps more socially acceptable, too, by the lies about things that are pretty safe. The worst thing you can do if you want the villagers to stay away from lions is tell them that kittens are the equivalent of nuclear bombs.