More Americans Use Marijuana Daily Than Alcohol
Jonathan Caulkins, a professor at Heinz College in Pennsylvania, conducted a study revealing that more people in the United States now use marijuana daily than alcohol. Caulkins analyzed data from 27 social surveys conducted between 1979 and 2022, which included responses from 1.6 million Americans.
Daily Marijuana Use Has Increased 20-Fold
According to Caulkins, the number of Americans who used cannabis every day:
- Decreased from 1979 to 1992,
- Slowly increased until 2007,
- Then surged rapidly from 2008 onward.
As a result, from 1992 to 2022, the number of daily cannabis users in the U.S. grew 20 times, reaching 17.7 million people. In contrast, the number of people who drank alcohol daily increased by only 65% during the same period, reaching 14.7 million.
In 1992, the number of Americans who drank alcohol daily was ten times higher than those who used cannabis daily. By 2022, for the first time in history, daily marijuana users outnumbered daily alcohol drinkers.
Caulkins concluded, “This trend reflects changes in legislation. The number of marijuana users decreased during periods of stricter drug policies and increased during times of regulatory liberalization. Today, cannabis consumption is at a fundamentally different level than before marijuana was legalized in many U.S. states.”
One in Three Daily Marijuana Users May Be Overusing
Caulkins found that 9% to 11% of alcohol consumers drink every day. Among cannabis users, the percentage of daily users was similar until the early 1990s. However, since 2010, about 33% of marijuana users have started using it daily. This means cannabis users are three times more likely to overuse marijuana than alcohol drinkers are to overuse alcohol.
Comparison with Tobacco Use
Among tobacco users, 59% of Americans smoke cigarettes daily, totaling 24.1 million people. While daily marijuana use is still 27% lower than daily tobacco use, if the current growth trend continues, more Americans may soon use cannabis daily than smoke tobacco.