Younger adults are nearly three times more likely to use marijuana than alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis, according to a new government-backed study.
People in the oldest of three surveyed age groups, meanwhile, are more likely to drink alcohol frequently, while those between 35 and 50 appear to have roughly even daily or near-daily (DND) use rates for both substances.
Authored by University of Michigan research professor Megan E. Patrick, the new paper draws data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) Panel Study, an annual nationwide survey of about 20,000 people across three distinct age groups: ages 19 to 30, 35 to 50 and 55 to 65.
The analysis, published last week in the journal Data Insight, shows that among the youngest age group, frequent cannabis consumption was three times as common as alcohol use. Among 19 to 30 year olds, 10.4 percent reported DND use of marijuana compared to 3.6 percent who reported DND alcohol use.
On the opposite end of the age spectrum, frequent alcohol consumption was more than twice as prevalent as cannabis use among people 55 to 65 years of age. Of those respondents, 11.4 percent reported DND drinking, while 5.2 percent said they consumed cannabis daily or near-daily.
Among what the paper calls “early midlife adults”—those aged 35 to 50—use rates were almost equal: 7.8 percent reported DND alcohol use, while 7.5 percent reported DND cannabis consumption.
Overall, patterns indicate that daily or near-daily cannabis use has “increased over the past 5 and 10 years…among young adults and early midlife adults,” the study says, increasing by nearly 75 percent—an increase of 4.4 percentage points—from 2013 to 2023.
As for alcohol, DND use has decreased over the past five and 10 years among young adults, while early midlife adults have only reported a decrease more recently, during the past five years. DND drinking by young adults fell about 35 percent (1.9 percentage points) over the past decade, “from 5.5% in 2013 to 4.8% in 2018 and to 3.6% in 2023,” the report says. “Among early midlife adults, there was a significant decrease by approximately 20% (1.6 percentage points) over the past 5 years, from 9.5% in 2018 to 7.6% in 2023 (with a very noticeable 1-year increase in 2020 during the COVID pandemic).”
“Overall, there has been a crossover of DND use of cannabis and DND use of alcohol among young adults in the past decade,” the report concludes. “As of 2023, DND cannabis use was more prevalent than DND alcohol use among those ages 19 to 30. Early midlife adults have had a convergence, but not yet a crossover.”
For now, it adds, “DND alcohol use remains more prevalent than DND cannabis use among adults ages 55 and older, although if trends continue this may shift in the coming years.”
The study, which was supported by research grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, provides more granular, age-specific findings than a similar report published earlier this year that found 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.
Meanwhile, reports generally indicate that legalization hasn’t caused a spike in cannabis use by minors.
Six years after Canada legalized marijuana sales nationwide, for example, a recent government report found that daily or near-daily use rates by both adults and youth have held steady. Meanwhile, the vast majority of consumers now say they obtain cannabis legally, with only 3 percent of respondents reporting purchasing from illicit sources.
Another study earlier this year found similar marijuana use rates and support for legalization in both the U.S. and Canada despite the countries’ different national approaches to regulating the drug.
A separate study last year found that the proportion of high-school students who said marijuana was easy to obtain has fallen in recent years.
As for younger patients with medical marijuana cards, a recent study looking at patients under 21 found that that minors and young adults typically qualify for state cannabis programs for many of the same reasons that older adults do, including anxiety, PTSD and chronic pain.
Younger adults are nearly three times more likely to use marijuana than alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis, according to a new government-backed study. People in the oldest of three surveyed age groups, meanwhile, are more likely to drink alcohol frequently, while those between 35 and 50 appear to have roughly even daily or Read More
