Dave Lombardo: Alcohol + Nicotine, Not Marijuana, Are Gateway Drugs
Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, currently of Suicidal Tendencies and Dead Cross, recently opined that marijuana isn't a gateway drug, as it's often colloquially classified. If anything, the musician suggested, both nicotine and alcohol eventually lead to more addictive substances than cannabis.
That's what the veteran rocker laid out during a recent interview with Canadian broadcaster Todd Hancock's Toddcast Podcast. The chat cropped up in an episode that aired Monday (March 23). However, Hancock's full conversation with Lombardo — as heard below — was initially shared the previous day.
"Marijuana, I think, is not a gateway drug," the drummer submitted. "If there is a gateway drug, it would be either nicotine or alcohol. Watching someone in your family [be like], 'Oh my God! I need a cigarette. Fuck! I need a cigarette right now. Oh, this feels great.' … I don't need to smoke weed to know what addiction is."
Lombardo continued, "To say that marijuana is a gateway drug, they are highly misinformed and have forgotten alcohol as well. Because I know people that went from alcohol to cocaine... I personally enjoy [marijuana]. I don't take pills; I don't take pharmaceuticals. I eat healthy, I exercise. I occasionally smoke a little weed."
The musician's comments regarding the various substances came at the tail end of the Toddcast interview. Before that, Lombardo touched on topics including his childhood entertainment influences, his early days in Slayer, his diverse musical preferences and his recent film scoring work.
Outside of those areas, the drummer did offer another interesting take — one regarding humanity's origin and the probability of alien life. Asked by Hancock if he believed in extraterrestrials, the musician proposed the following.
"Something's missing between man and animal," Lombardo said. "So I feel possibly an alien came down, fucked an ape, and created humans. That's my conclusion."
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