All gates lead to smoking: The 'gateway theory', e-cigarettes and the remaking of nicotine (2014)

The idea that drug use in 'softer' forms leads to 'harder' drug use lies at the heart of the gateway theory, one of the most influential models of drug use of the twentieth century. Although hotly contested, the notion of the 'gateway drug' continues to rear its head in discussions of drug use - most recently in the context of electronic cigarettes. Based on a critical reading of a range of texts, including scholarly literature and media reports, we explore the history and gestation of the gateway theory, highlighting the ways in which intersections between academic, media and popular accounts actively produced the concept. Arguing that the theory has been critical in maintaining the distinction between 'soft' and 'hard' drugs, we turn to its distinctive iteration in the context of debates about e-cigarettes. We show that the notion of the 'gateway' has been transformed from a descriptive to a predictive model, one in which nicotine is constituted as simultaneously 'soft' and 'hard' - as both relatively innocuous and incontrovertibly harmful. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Highlights:
The gateway theory is a product of academic, media and popular accounts of drug use.
Its influence continues to be felt in recent debates about electronic cigarettes.
The 'gateway' has been transformed from a descriptive to a predictive model.
Via the theory, nicotine is constituted as simultaneously 'soft' and 'hard'.