Home News Cannabis News Adults In The U.S. Are Consuming More Cannabis Than Ever Before

Adults In The U.S. Are Consuming More Cannabis Than Ever Before

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Adults In The U.S. Are Consuming More Cannabis Than Ever Before
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When it comes to this generation of college-age adults, cannabis is seemingly their substance of choice — and alcohol is taking a backseat. 

This important insight comes from a new “Monitor the Future” study conducted by The National Institutes of Health, which analyzed 40 years of data on men and women aged 19-22. These results highlight the changing ways adults interact with one another in social settings, and mirror a broader trend that continues to see cannabis enter the mainstream like never before. 

Methodology 

The comprehensive, six-author survey collected national data over a period of 40 years, dating back to 1980. Among other factors, the survey tracked cannabis, alcohol, and psychedelic use among college-age adults, and plotted the shifting habits. 

The team found that a record-high 44% of college students reported using cannabis within the past year in 2020. That figure was up six percent from just five years prior. 

Members of the same age group who did not attend college reported a similar uptick in use. A full 43% of these respondents claimed to have used cannabis within the past year. 

Importantly, the frequency of cannabis use also rose considerably. Eight percent of college students indicated they consume cannabis products on a daily basis, defined as 20 or more uses within a 30-day period. It had been at five percent as recently as 2015. 

For the non-college group, that figure jumped to 13%. 

While data on cannabis use is still somewhat limited, some members of the research team found this trend alarming.

“Daily marijuana use is a clear health risk,” said John Schulenberg, lead investigator of the Monitoring the Future panel study. “The brain is still developing in the early 20s, and as the Surgeon General and others have reported, the scientific evidence indicates that heavy marijuana use can be detrimental to cognitive functioning and mental health.”

Alcohol Consumption Hurt By Covid-19

Cannabis use has been on a steady incline since 1980. Alcohol however, particularly binge-drinking, is slowing down among the same age group. 

According to the report, college drinking dramatically declined in 2020, from 56% in 2019 down to 28% a year later. Similarly, binge-drinking, which is defined as five or more consecutive drinks, dropped to 24% in 2020 — a 40-year low. 

Much of this dip can be attributed to the global pandemic, which made it much more difficult to gather and socialize in larger groups, thus reducing the need for alcohol. The trends stayed fairly level between 2015 and 2019, before dropping precipitously, suggesting Covid-19 was the primary culprit. 

Regardless, drinking as a whole has slowly been losing favor among this age group since the 1990s, but seems to have largely leveled off in the past decade. Contrast that to cannabis, whose use has only steadily risen, and you can see a clear shift in cultural values. 

Takeaways 

According to the data, there is no reason these trends won’t continue. Cannabis markets are thriving around the country, offering users increasingly affordable and high quality options, and college students and adults alike are taking full advantage. 

The U.S. as a whole is also seeing cannabis as less and less of a threat with each passing year. Less than a quarter of college-age adults currently consider it to be a health risk according to the report. Additionally, every state that has moved to legalized cannabis products are enjoying massive boosts in tax revenue

It is impossible to say what the future holds, but it is clear that cannabis will almost certainly be involved. 

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