More than half of marijuana consumers say they drink less alcohol, or none at all, after using cannabis, according to a new poll.
The survey from the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD that was shared exclusively with Marijuana Moment is one of the latest pieces of evidence supporting the idea of a substitution effect, with people increasingly opting for cannabis as a less harmful alternative to alcohol.
Asked how consuming marijuana affected their alcohol use, 54 percent of respondents said they “tend to drink less or not at all.” Another 22 percent said there wasn’t a relationship between use of the two substances, and 14 percent said it “depends on the circumstances.” Just 9 percent said they tended to drink more alcohol after using cannabis.
That’s based on survey data that was collected from 381 cannabis consumers from January 9-12, with a 5 percent margin of error.
“Today’s cannabis consumers are turning to the plant more for wellness than indulgence, a trend we consistently have been observing in our polling data,” Alexandra Arnett, lead researcher and fact checker at NuggMD, told Marijuana Moment.
“From a public health perspective, the replacement effect cannabis use seems to have on alcohol consumption is a positive shift,” she said. “Many people are substituting a potentially fatal substance with one that isn’t. However, this replacement is only a safe, practical option in state-legal recreational markets. Our internal estimates show that 47 percent of Americans and 37 percent of domestic cannabis consumers still live in states without access to these markets.”
“Although there has been a positive shift from alcohol use to cannabis use, from a policy standpoint, federal and state prohibition is restricting the potential benefits cannabis could offer society,” Arnett said.
The results of the NuggMD survey stack up neatly against an increasing body of scientific research indicating that consumer trends are shifting as the state-level legalization movement spreads and more adults are able to lawfully access marijuana products at licensed retailers.
Via NuggMD.
For example, a survey that was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and released last month found that young adults are nearly three times more likely to use marijuana than alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis.
That survey provided more granular, age-specific findings than a similar report published last year, finding that more Americans overall smoke marijuana on a daily basis than drink alcohol every day—and that alcohol drinkers are more likely to say they would benefit from limiting their use than cannabis consumers are.
A separate study published in the journal Addiction this past May similarly found that there are more U.S. adults who use marijuana daily than who drink alcohol every day.
The new research also comes at nearly the same time as a Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) survey indicating that substitution of cannabis for alcohol is “soaring” as the state-level legalization movement expands and relative perceptions of harm shift. A significant portion of Americans also said in that poll that they substitute marijuana for cigarettes and painkillers.
A separate BI analysis from September projected that the expansion of the marijuana legalization movement will continue to post a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.
Yet another study on the impact of marijuana consumption on people’s use of other drugs that was released last month suggested that, for many, cannabis may act as a less-dangerous substitute, allowing people to reduce their intake of substances such as alcohol, methamphetamine and opioids like morphine.
Another study out of Canada, where marijuana is federally legal, found that legalization was “associated with a decline in beer sales,” suggesting a substitution effect.
The analyses comport with other recent survey data that more broadly looked at American views on marijuana versus alcohol. For example, a Gallup survey found that respondents view cannabis as less harmful than alcohol, tobacco and nicotine vapes—and more adults now smoke cannabis than smoke cigarettes.
A separate survey released by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Morning Consult last June also found that Americans consider marijuana to be significantly less dangerous than cigarettes, alcohol and opioids—and they say cannabis is less addictive than each of those substances, as well as technology.
More than half of marijuana consumers say they drink less alcohol, or none at all, after using cannabis, according to a new poll. The survey from the cannabis telehealth platform NuggMD that was shared exclusively with Marijuana Moment is one of the latest pieces of evidence supporting the idea of a substitution effect, with people Read More
