Clemson University TigerPrints All Theses Theses 8-2008 Drug Use Sequencing and Kandel's Gateway Hypothesis John Reid Clemson University,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Reid, John, "Drug Use Sequencing and Kandel's Gateway Hypothesis" (2008). All Theses. 447. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/447 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. DRUG USE SEQUENCING AND KANDEL'S GATEWAY HYPOTHESIS A Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science Applied Sociology by John Matthew Reid August 2008 Accepted by: Dr. Brenda Vander Mey, Committee Chair Dr. Douglas Kinly Sturkie Dr. Margaret Tina Britz i ABSTRACT This thesis tests the hypothesis by Kandel (1975) that there is a specific sequence of drug use that users follow. Using the same scalogram analysis technique utilized by Kandel in her original Gateway Hypothesis study, a distinct sequence of use was discovered. This thesis is based on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2005). This study confirmed Kandel’s earlier findings in that this study determined that there is a sequence of drug use. The current study also confirms Kandel’s position that licit drugs precede the use of illicit drugs. This study’s findings differ from those of Kandel, however, in that tobacco and not alcohol was found to be the first drug of experimentation.