Marijuana and Alcohol Use Trends are Changing —Tips for Smart Cannabis Use

Attitudes toward marijuana have undergone a seismic shift in recent years. Most Americans now live in a state where recreational marijuana is legal. It’s now clear that people’s behaviors are changing along with attitudes. New research from Carnegie Mellon University found a 15-fold increase in the rate of people reporting daily or near-daily marijuana use in the U.S. In 2022, for the first time ever, daily marijuana use became more common than daily alcohol use.

Mass General Brigham researcher Staci Gruber, PhD, director of the Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Core and the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery (MIND) Program at McLean Hospital, spoke to WGBH’s All Things Considered about this trend and what it means for public health.

What’s driving increased marijuana use?

The findings from the new study aren’t entirely unexpected, says Dr. Gruber. “Cannabis use has become much more widespread. It doesn’t surprise me that so many people are reporting use [at] a daily or near daily rate at this point.”

However, the research doesn’t explain what’s behind the trend—whether it’s societal attitudes, changing laws or increased use of medical cannabis, for example. “I’m not clear that we were absolutely sure of why individuals were using daily or near daily,” Dr. Gruber says.

The new research doesn’t explore whether regular marijuana users are more likely to be driven by medical or recreational purposes, for example. “When people are using cannabis … for medical purposes, they are often using daily or near daily, just as they would use any medication. That’s an important consideration,” she says.

Tips for smart cannabis use

The federal government is undertaking efforts to reclassify cannabis from a Schedule I drug—this class of drugs also includes heroin and LSD—to a Schedule III drug, a class that includes anabolic steroids and testosterone. Dr. Gruber explains that being classified as a Schedule I drug means it has no accepted medical value, whereas a Schedule III classification acknowledges that there is some medical value. That change won’t have much of an impact on cannabis consumers, Dr. Gruber says, though it could make it easier for researchers like her to study the drug.

While Dr. Gruber and her colleagues continue to investigate how marijuana affects the body, she shares three important things to consider if you’re thinking about using cannabis:

1. Do your research: Marijuana contains more than 500 different compounds that affect the brain and body in many ways. Different cannabis products can have different effects—and may also interact with other medications. “Even people who are using medically and experiencing benefits should be mindful of the potential negative effects,” she says.

2. Consider strength: Marijuana products today have a much greater concentration of the intoxicating substance delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, more commonly known as THC, than they did in years past. “Average potency has increased exponentially over the last several decades,” says Dr. Gruber. “The national average for recreational cannabis is somewhere around 16% or 17% THC. Years ago, it was [around] 4%, 5%, or 6%.” She also cautions that some products, called concentrates, are formulated to have THC concentrations starting at around 30%, and going beyond 90% so it’s important to check a product’s potency before you partake.

3. Age matters: “When we think about adolescents or emerging adults with neurodevelopmentally vulnerable brains … we’re more likely to see a negative impact compared to individuals who are older,” she says. In other words, marijuana use is riskier for younger users whose brains are still developing.