The reason its a stepping stone is because its illegal... You're forced to buy it through the black market so its very likely if you keep smoking you're bound to run into someone who offers you something harder just because they're trying to make money. If you could just buy it at the convenience store you would never have to associate with those type of people.Some of my old school mates who were weed users, now are on heroine.. It's fucked how progressive it is.