Daily cannabis use overtakes drinking in US first

The number of Americans who smoke cannabis on a daily or near-daily basis now exceeds those who drink alcohol as often, a study has found.

The research, published in the journal Addiction, is based on data collected by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health over four decades.

In 2022, the survey recorded an estimated 17.7 million daily cannabis users, higher for the first time than the estimate of 14.7 million daily drinkers.

Alcohol still remains the more widely used substance of the two.

But the study found that, between 1992 and 2022, there was a 15-fold increase in the per capita rate of those who reported daily or near-daily use of cannabis.

Less than one million people said they used cannabis nearly every day in 1992, the lowest reported usage since the study began in 1979.

But the study also acknowledges that people may be more willing to report their own use as public opinion and legislation change in the US.

Recreational use of cannabis is allowed in 24 states and the District of Columbia, while 38 states have legalised its medicinal use.

The government has so far resisted calls to legalise or decriminalise the drug at the federal level.

However, in the most significant drug reform in more than half a century, the justice department moved earlier this month to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I controlled substance on a par with heroin, to a Schedule III substance.

President Joe Biden said: "Far too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana."

Studies have shown that common conceptions of cannabis as a "gateway" to other drugs is not backed up by evidence, and the majority of users do not go on to harder drugs.

But research shared by the National Institute on Drug Abuse suggests that high-frequency use can lead to addiction.