Daily marijuana use surpasses alcohol consumption, new study finds. Here's what it means for the industry

Americans are reaching for buds more than booze.

Daily or near-daily marijuana use is now more common than similar levels of drinking in the U.S., according to 40 years of data analyzed by Carnegie Mellon University.

The report looks at U.S. data from more than 1.6 million participants collected across 27 surveys between 1979 and 2022.

Although alcohol overall remains more widely used, 2022 was the first-time daily marijuana use overtook drinking at the same frequency, with roughly 17.7 million cannabis users and 14.7 million drinkers, respectively.

That is a 15-fold increase for cannabis since 1992 when only 900,000 Americans disclosed using the drug daily compared with 8.9 million daily drinkers.

"We believe — and data clearly indicates — the younger demographic cohort is increasingly accepting cannabis on a daily and monthly use at a higher rate than other generations," said Roth MKM analyst Scott Fortune.

"As there are indications of consumers substituting away from other pleasure uses (alcohol, tobacco), we think as younger generations grow up with legal cannabis options, the acceptance of cannabis will become more prevalent and substitute away from traditional options," he added.

This report comes as the cannabis industry is expecting the Drug Enforcement Administration to ease federal restrictions and reclassify marijuana, which would increase access to funding, research and investment opportunities for cannabis-related companies like Tilray, Canopy Growth and Curaleaf.

The spirits and alcohol industry, however, has been working to defendits market share despite shifting trends among younger consumers.

"From the U.S. alcohol side, the youngest legal drinking-age consumers are turning to alcohol less often, and when they do