The substances which for most people give them their first experience of getting intoxicated tend to be ones which are fairly easily obtained without getting into contact with dealers - most commonly glue, or petrol or alcohol.

In as sense it is fair to describe these as "gateway drugs" - some people are going to want to move on to other things. But there isn't the same direct connection with dealers that you get when a substance is not legally available in the first place, which is where they differ from cannabis.

When there is any kind of black market, the effect is that would-be purchasers are put in touch with people who can supply a wide range of illegal goods. In that sense, anything illegal or rationed can be a "gateway purchase". Coffee, chewing gum, nylons... I just don't think it is a good idea to broaden the black market in this way. And, as I have indicated I think it would be a very good idea to move cannabis out of that market, through some kind of decriminalisation.

The idea of dope dealers handing out free joints to kids at large in the hope of getting customers, in line with Tom Lehrer's "Old Dope Peddler" who "gives the kids free samples because he knows full well
that today's young innocent faces are tomorrow's clientele"? Well maybe - but I don't think it seems to work that way with other drugs that can be obtained legally. There may be dealers passing out free alcopops, as a way of drumming up trade for the hard stuff, but I don't think it's too common.