Daily cannabis use now more common than daily drinking in the U.S.

For the first time, the number of Americans who use cannabis just about every day has surpassed the number who drink that often, a shift some 40 years in the making as recreational pot use became more mainstream and legal in nearly half of U.S. states (Source: “Daily marijuana use outpaces daily drinking in the U.S., a new study says,” Associated Press, May 22).
 
In 2022, an estimated 17.7 million people reported using cannabis daily or near-daily compared to 14.7 million daily or near-daily drinkers, according an analysis of national survey data published in the journal Addiction. In 1992, when daily cannabis use hit a low point, less than 1 million people said they used cannabis nearly every day.
 
Alcohol is still more widely used, but 2022 was the first time this intensive level of cannabis use overtook daily and near-daily drinking, said the study’s author, Jonathan Caulkins, a cannabis policy researcher at Carnegie Mellon University.
 
“A good 40% of current cannabis users are using it daily or near daily, a pattern that is more associated with tobacco use than typical alcohol use,” Caulkins said.