Americans Consume Weed More Regularly Than Alcohol, New Study Reports

Americans are getting high more often than they’re get drunk. A new study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, found that more Americans are consuming weed on a daily or near daily basis than are consuming alcohol at the same rate.

In 2020, one million more people used alcohol more regularly than pot. That changed in 2022, though, when 18 million people said they consumed weed daily or near daily. Only 16 million Americans said the same about alcohol.

This marked the first time in decades that weed consumption has overtaken that of alcohol. In fact, in 1992, only 1 million people reported daily or near daily pot consumption. That’s 10 times less than daily or near daily alcohol consumption that same year.

Weed’s growing availability and legality, along with its decreased cost, are noted reasons for its increased use, according to the report.

The report calls on the government to enact a public health policy when it comes to weed. It seeks to minimize public health harms related to pot through research and by working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, congress, and state-level legislatures.

“We’d like the federal government to step up to provide some leadership in this area,” Dr. Steven Teutsch, who chaired the committee behind the study, told PBS.