Survey Asks: Is Cannabis or Alcohol More Harmful?
Nearly 20,000 US adults were asked about the harm of regular cannabis use and regular alcohol use.
Image | adobe.stock/Li
On March 10, 2025, international online research data and analytics technology group YouGov revealed results from a survey concerning opinions on cannabis and alcohol use (1). The survey asked the question, “Which one do you think is more harmful to a person’s health?” with the four response options being “Regular alcohol use,” “Regular marijuana use,” “Neither,” and “Not sure.” Nearly 20,000 US adults were surveyed.
Nearly 60% of the respondents indicated they viewed regular alcohol use as more harmful, while 19% thought regular cannabis was more harmful. Additionally, 10% responded with “Neither,” and 13% responded with “Not sure.”
Data on region, gender, politics, age, and race was also collected in the survey. Notably, by age, 50% of 18-29 year olds responded that alcohol use was more harmful, along with 61% of 30-44 year olds, 62% of 45-64 year olds, and 57% of respondents ages 65 and above.
On the same day, YouGov also published results on the question, “Which do you personally enjoy using more?” with the response options and results being: Alcohol (27%), Marijuana (13%), Both equally (5%), Neither (48%), Not sure (3%), and Prefer not to say (4%).
Results from a similar question, “Which do you personally use more often?” was also published. The results were: Alcohol (27%), Marijuana (11%), Both equally (4%), Neither (52%), Not sure (2%), Prefer not to say (4%).
Several studies have been conducted on the changing patterns of cannabis and alcohol use. One study published in February 2025 in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine investigated possible connections between cannabis and alcohol use, and adult-use cannabis legalization laws in the US (2). Researchers analyzed representative data from over 10 years, finding “limited effects on population-wide alcohol and tobacco consumption post-legalization,” as well as a decrease in alcohol use in young adults ages 18 to 29.
Another study, “Daily or near-daily cannabis and alcohol use by adults in the United States: A comparison across age groups,” published in Addiction in December 2024 measured the habits of cannabis and alcohol use in adults over time (3). This study focused on differences in cannabis and alcohol use across various age periods of adulthood, using data from the annual report Monitoring the Future Panel Study for a total of 389,649 responses from 1988 to 2023, including responses from about 20,000 adults who were ages 19–65 in 2023. Among young adults (age 19-30), daily or near-daily cannabis use increased by more than 75% from 2013 to 2023. In the same age group, daily or near-daily alcohol use has decreased by approximately 35% in the same time period.
References
- YouGov. Which one do you think is more harmful to a person’s health? https://today.yougov.com/topics/politics/survey-results/daily/2025/03/10/feafe/1 (accessed Mar 11, 2025).
- Colli, M. Study Highlights Retail Cannabis Sales May Play A Role in Reduced Drinking with Young Adults https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/study-highlights-retail-cannabis-sales-may-play-a-role-in-reduced-drinking-with-young-adults (accessed Mar 11, 2025).
- McEvoy, E. Study Examines Shifting Trends in Daily Cannabis and Alcohol Use for Adults in the US https://www.cannabissciencetech.com/view/study-examines-shifting-trends-in-daily-cannabis-and-alcohol-use-for-adults-in-the-us (accessed Mar 11, 2025).
Recent Videos
Related Content
Ep 25: Cannabis Quality Differentiation Beyond Cannabinoid Content
February 28th 2025Podcast
In this latest installment of Noid Knowledge we are joined by Julie Kowalski, a leading mind in analytical chemistry and cannabis testing. Julie has arranged a very compelling symposium for Pittcon entitled Cannabis Aroma: Advances and Challenges in Determining and Commercializing Cannabis Product Quality Attributes. It is taking place on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, starting at 9:30 AM in room 209. The session features top notch speakers, including several previous guests of this show, and yours truly, discussing the next generation of quality assessment in cannabis.
Ep 24, Part III: Data Transparency in Cannabis Testing with Yasha Kahn
December 26th 2024Podcast
In the final part of this episode, Evan Friedmann and Yasha Kahn discuss the need for a national entity to centralize cannabis data collection, moving from snapshot data to continuous updates. They emphasize the importance of accurate lab data and adverse event tracking, suggesting QR codes on packaging to report issues. Yasha suggests harsher consequences for result manipulation and suggests collaboration between state departments and federal entities to support underfunded regulators. They also discuss the potential benefits of off-the-shelf testing and the importance of stability testing. Finally, Yasha shares his top three reading recommendations for the audience.
