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There is limited empirical integration between peer clustering theory and the Gateway framework. The goal of the present study was to test the hypothesis that friendship associations partly predict gateway escalations in the use of drugs from adolescence to adulthood.

This longitudinal study analyzed 3 waves of data from a community sample of 711 male and female participants without a history of illicit drug use reporting drug use at age 17, 22, and 27. Substance use assessments including tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, onset and abuse/dependence tendency of illicit drugs other than cannabis (i.e., cocaine, methamphetamine, and opiates), and friends' reported use of illicit drugs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized model.

Participants' cannabis use level at age 17 was positively associated with perceived friends' drug use at age 22, which in turn predicted …