When comparing daily use rates of cannabis to daily alcohol consumption, cannabis users are now 7.4 times more likely to engage in daily use compared to alcohol drinkers. Self-reported cannabis use, in the last 30 days, was nearly 4 times higher than alcohol usage for the same metric. From 1992 until 2022, the reported frequency rate of “daily or near daily” cannabis use increased by nearly 15-fold.
This study was released in the academic journal “Addiction” by Carnegie Mellon Professor, Dr. Jonathan Caulkins. Using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), from 1979 – 2022, frequency of use rates for alcohol and cannabis were assessed from the over 1.6 million survey respondents. Cannabis use frequency rates were at it all time low in 1992, but they have continued to increase to currently outpacing those who drink alcohol. While the number of people who drink alcohol versus use cannabis is greater, the frequency rate of cannabis use is higher by 3 – 4 times that of alcohol consumption.
Factors that have contributed to the increase in cannabis use include the nationwide push towards legalization, a reduction in criminal consequences and an overall loosening of public policy and opinion.
Read Time: ~10 minutes
Photo: OpenArt / MIG