Teenage Indulgence in Cigarettes, Alcohol and Marijuana: Evidence of a "Gateway" Effect

Bisakha Sen (), Rajshree Agarwal and Richard Hofler
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Rajshree Agarwal: U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Richard Hofler: U of Central Florida

Working Papers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business

Abstract: We examine the possible existence of a 'gateway' effect between the consumption of three different substances--cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana--among adolescents. A gateway effect exists when consumption of one substance increases the likelihood of subsequent initiation of consumption of other substances. We find evidence that smoking and/or alcohol consumption serve as 'gateways' for initiating marijuana-use, and each of smoking and alcohol use serve as 'gateways' for initiating the other. After controlling for unobserved heterogeneity, we also find that marijuana-use serves as a 'gateway' for initiating alcohol and smoking. The results thus indicate complementarities in the use of addictive substances, and suggest that policies aimed at preventing adolescents' usage of one addictive substance can have beneficial effects of reducing adolescents' initiation of other addictive substances.

Date: 2002-01
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