A recent survey has revealed that more Americans smoke cannabis every day or almost every day compared to those who drink alcohol with the same frequency.
According to a study report by Carnegie Mellon University released on the 23rd (local time), the 2022 annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health in the US showed that 17.7 million people reported using cannabis daily or nearly daily (21 days or more a month). This surpassed the number of people who reported consuming alcohol, which was 14.7 million. This is the first time in history.
Back in 1992, the same survey showed that only 900,000 people used cannabis daily or nearly daily, indicating that the number increased about 20 times to 17.7 million people in the past 30 years.
In the survey, the median value of the number of drinking days in the past month for alcohol consumers was 4-5 days. In comparison, the median value of the number of days for cannabis users in the previous month was 15-16 days.
However, the overall percentage of respondents who reported having consumed the substance in the previous month was significantly higher for alcohol at 40.4%, compared to cannabis at 12.6%. The researchers noted, “While still far more people drink alcohol, high-frequency drinking is less common than high-frequency usage of cannabis.”