The studies aren't false. They don't apply to everyone, but they aren't false.
Not everyone who smokes weed moves on, but many people get introduced into the world of drugs with weed. Most 13-16 year old kids, the age that they would typically do weed for the first time, do it because one of their friends does. The same friends who could easily talk them into doing a harder drug, or they work their way down the line. Friend of a friend, start smoking with them, then moving on, eventually finding the hard drug users. Smoking weed doesn't make you want crack, but it's usually smoking weed that begins the cycle which will eventually lead them to hard drugs.
At one point they had 2 choices, smoke weed, or not. Choosing no means the dumbass (read: drug user) friend goes off with someone else for a smoke. Chances are they wouldn't keep asking him, and he'd probably never do any drug, much less a hard drug. If he chooses yes, he smokes weed, and he's much much more likely to go to hard drugs.
As for addiction, you don't need to constantly do it. People who smoke a cig a day can be addicted, just like those who smoke a pack. Like any other addictions, they grow over time. You and your buddies are still young, you can be addicted and still not smoke constantly. There's also a very good chance they're not addicted. Not everyone who drinks or smokes is addicted, not everyone who does drugs is addicted. But many are.
If you continue to do a drug there's a good chance you're addicted. While you may not do it daily, there is something that is pushing you to do it again, the start of an addiction. Whether it escalates from there or not really depends if they continue to do it. The only drug you could really make an argument against doing but not having any addiction to is heroine. If you don't possess a certain gene, you don't get addicted to heroine.
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