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A new poll finds that more Americans 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.
U.S. adults who drink alcohol are nearly three times as likely to say they’d be better off reducing their intake of the drug compared to marijuana consumers who said they’d benefit from using their preferred substance less often, the survey found.
It also says that while lifetime and monthly alcohol drinking among adults was far more common than cannabis use, daily marijuana consumption was slightly more popular than daily drinking.
Meanwhile, 60 percent of adults said they think marijuana use should be legal in the U.S., while 76 percent of people said consuming alcohol should be legal. Among people who’d used either substance, feelings toward legality were about the same—81 percent of people who’d ever used alcohol said it should be permitted, and 79 percent of people who’d ever tried marijuana said consumption should be allowed.
The survey, conducted by YouGov, polled 1,116 U.S. adults from June 7-10. Of those, 84 percent said they’d ever used alcohol, while fewer than half (48 percent) said they’d ever tried marijuana.
As for monthly use, more than 4 in 10 adults (41 percent) said they drink at least on a monthly basis. Less than half that proportion (17 percent) said they use marijuana at least monthly.
In terms of daily use, however, marijuana was more common, with 8 percent of adults saying they use cannabis daily. Five percent of adults, meanwhile, said they drink on a daily basis.
On that point, the YouGov report notes that its findings support those of a separate study published in May in the journal Addiction that similarly found that there are more U.S. adults who use marijuana daily than who drink alcohol every day.
The new YouGov survey also asked participants about their attitudes toward the frequency of their own alcohol and cannabis use, specifically as to whether they thought they’d “be better off” if they consumed “more often,” “about as often” or “less often.”
Asked about alcohol, the most common response was “about as often,” at 41 percent. But 3 in 10 (30 percent) said they thought they’d be better off if they drank less often. Only 3 percent said they felt they’d be better off if they used alcohol more often.
Marijuana responses differed significantly, with the most common response being that users were not sure whether they’d be better off consuming more or less frequently. About a third (31 percent) answered “about as often,” while roughly equal proportions felt they’d be better off consuming more often (10 percent) or less often (11 percent).
The answers depended largely on how frequently participants reported using either substance.
“Among the most frequent marijuana users—those who use it at least once a week—29% think they’d be better off if they used it even more often, 16% think they’d be better off using less often, and 49% think they’re best off using it at the same frequency they do now,” the survey says. “Among people who use marijuana at least once a year but no more than a few times a month, 23% think they’d be better off if they used it more often, while 13% say they’d better off using it less often. 46% think they’re better off using it at the same frequency they do now.”
As for alcohol, it reports: “Few alcohol drinkers think they’d be better off drinking more often.”
“Among people who drink alcohol at least once a week, 36% think they’d be better off if they consumed alcohol less often, and only 4% more often; 50% think they’re best off drinking at their current rate,” the YouGov report says. “Among people who drink at least once a year but no more frequently than a few times a month, 32% think they’d be better off if they drank less often and only 3% say they’d be better off if they drank more often. The largest share of this group (49%) thinks they’re better off using it at the same frequency they do now.”
The least frequent users of either substance were also the most likely to say they’d be better off using that drug less frequently. About a third (32 percent) of people who used marijuana less often than once a year said they’d be better off using it less frequently, while 43 percent of people consume alcohol less than once a year said they’d be better off drinking less often.
The new survey follows a separate report published recently in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs that found that secondhand harm caused by marijuana use is far less prevalent than that of alcohol, with respondents reporting secondhand harm from drinking at nearly six times the rate they did for cannabis.
Perceived harms from opioids and other drugs also outweighed those related to marijuana, that study found.
A multinational investment bank said in a report late last year that marijuana has become a “formidable competitor” to alcohol, projecting that nearly 20 million more people will regularly consume cannabis over the next five years as booze loses a couple million drinkers. It also says marijuana sales are estimated to reach $37 billion in 2027 in the U.S. as more state markets come online.
Data from a Gallup survey published last August also found that Americans consider marijuana to be less harmful than alcohol, cigarettes, vapes and other tobacco products.
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.
Separate research published earlier this year found that the use of marijuana alone was not associated with higher risk of a car crash, while alcohol—whether used by itself or combined with marijuana—showed a clear correlation with increased odds of a collision.
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