# In Response to “Concerns Regarding Masataka et al.'s ‘Revisiting the Gateway Drug Hypothesis for Cannabis’”

## TL;DR

The paper addresses concerns about a previous study on cannabis use patterns in Japan, clarifying that the analysis was descriptive and not causal.

## Contribution

The paper clarifies methodological and interpretive aspects of a prior study to address specific concerns raised by Dr. Narita.

## Key findings

- The analysis shows both progression and non-progression pathways in cannabis use.
- There is no single dominant gateway pattern among Japanese cannabis users.

## Abstract

We clarify Dr. Narita's concerns by replacing subjective wording with data‐based statements, emphasizing the descriptive—not causal—nature of our analysis, and noting that logistic regression was exploratory. Our findings show both progression and non‐progression pathways, indicating no single dominant gateway pattern among Japanese cannabis users.