Study: 65% of Cannabis Consumers Prefer It to Alcohol

A recent study from New Frontier Data suggests that adults in legal states might be shifting from alcohol to cannabis with 65 percent of survey respondents saying they prefer cannabis to alcohol if given a choice. Another 45 percent indicated they would likely replace some of their drinking with cannabis in the future, while 47 percent said their drinking habits had not changed.

Slightly less than a third (31 percent) said they drink less than they used to with 23 percent saying they drink more. New Frontier Data CEO Giadha Aguirre de Carcer said it’s too soon to know “whether such a shift is indicative of potential sustained behavior over time or a short-term spur in consumption.”

“Young adults approaching legal drinking age represent new potential consumers for alcohol brands, but New Frontier Data’s research reveals a noticeable shift in younger generations’ preference of cannabis over alcohol.” – Aguirre de Carcer, in a statement

Last year, MarketWatch reported binge drinking rates among college students had fallen from 4.3 percent in 2016 to 2.2 percent – down from 6.5 percent in 1980 – and that the majority of the 55 million cannabis users in the U.S. were millennials.

Additionally, at least one preliminary study by Scripps Research Institute found that CBD could help reduce the risk of relapse by alcoholics and there are countless anecdotal reports of people using cannabis as an exit drug for opioids – so much so that several states have added opioid dependency to their qualifying conditions list.

Frontier Data Chief Knowledge Officer John Kagia said that 72 percent of Americans under 35 now support cannabis legalization, adding “the growing acceptance and legalization of cannabis is a durable generational trend that the state’s famed wine and beer industries should be paying very close attention to.”