John,

First of all I don't have kids so let me say "no" to that question.

Secondly, like Ellen, I'm very sorry about what had happened. And no one truly understands that kind of hell until they go through it.

Thirdly you are right, in the western world, the vast majority of of heroin and cocaine uses "start" with pot. But that still doesn't mean that pot should continue to be illegal. It is truly a tiny percent of pot users that go on to be addicted to "hard" drugs.

There are people who:

never tried pot.
tried it once or a few times and stopped.
used it occasionally for a few years and stopped.
used it regularly for a few years and stopped.
used it regularly for years - maybe they haven't stopped.
used it and also tried heroin or cocaine once or a few times and stopped.
used it and also tried heroin or cocaine for a few years and stopped.
used it and also used heroin or cocaine at a level that would be considered to be addiction.

Each of the above levels decreases in size from hundreds of millions down to thousands. And that doesn't include people who abuse illegal drugs like amphetamines and barbituates, because a great deal of those users do not "start" with pot.

Also, heroin use in other parts of the world has little connection with pot. So thousands of people do not "need" pot to be willing to use other drugs.