Ecstasy and gateway drugs: initiating the use of ecstasy and other drugs.
OBJECTIVE
The main purposes of this study are to examine whether and to what extent ecstasy use serves as a gateway to the use of such hard drugs as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine and compare ages of onset of alcohol and marijuana use and subsequent use of cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine among young adult ecstasy users.


METHODS
Face-to-face surveys were conducted with 268 young adult ecstasy users in Atlanta, GA. Subjects were solicited by using the community identification process, including targeted sampling and guided recruitment. Data analysis involved discrete-time event-history analysis.


RESULTS
Results suggest that age of onset of ecstasy use influences the initiation of cocaine and methamphetamine use for our sample of active ecstasy users. In addition, alcohol and marijuana use precedes the initiation of cocaine and methamphetamine use, but only marijuana use influences the initiation of heroin use.


CONCLUSIONS
The sequential progression of drug use proposed in the gateway literature is not immutable. Researchers must take into account the changing popularity of drugs over time, such as the emergence of ecstasy use, when identifying patterns of drug-use onset.
Reid
Lesley W
LW
Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30302-5020, USA. lesleyreid@gsu.edu
Elifson
Kirk W
KW
Sterk
Claire E
CE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019969:Amphetamine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D016739:Behavior, Addictive / Q000139:chemically induced; D019970:Cocaine-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D013287:Illicit Drugs / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015995:Prevalence; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012931:Social Environment
D013287:Illicit Drugs; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine