Majority Of Americans Say Alcohol Is More Harmful Than Marijuana, Poll Finds

A majority of Americans believe regular alcohol consumption is more harmful than regular marijuana use, according to a new poll. Even so, more adults say they personally prefer drinking alcohol to consuming cannabis despite the health risks.

The survey from YouGov asked a series of questions about the two substances, one of which is federally legal while the remains prohibited.

Asked which substance they feel is “more harmful to a person’s health,” 58 percent of respondents said alcohol is more dangerous than cannabis, compared to 19 percent who said the opposite is true. Another 10 percent said neither is more harmful than the other, and 13 percent said they weren’t sure.

Broken down by party, 64 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans described alcohol as more harmful than marijuana.

Despite that significant divide in perceptions of harmfulness, the poll also found that 27 percent of adults “personally enjoy” drinking alcohol more than marijuana, while 13 percent said they prefer cannabis. Five percent said they enjoy both substances equally, and 48 percent said they don’t personally enjoy either.

Finally, the survey asked which substance Americans actually use more often, and 27 percent said alcohol over marijuana (11 percent). Another 4 percent said they use both equally, and 52 percent said they use neither.

The YouGov poll involved interviews with 19,918 American adults on March 10.

Separately, another survey released in January found that more than half of marijuana consumers say they drink less alcohol, or none at all, after using cannabis.

A different survey that was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and released in December found that young adults are nearly three times more likely to use marijuana than alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis.

That poll provided more granular, age-specific findings than a similar report published last year, finding that more Americans overall smoke marijuana on a daily basis than drink alcohol every day—and that alcohol drinkers are more likely to say they would benefit from limiting their use than cannabis consumers are.

A separate study published in the journal Addiction last year similarly found that there are more U.S. adults who use marijuana daily than who drink alcohol every day.

A Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) survey separately indicating that substitution of cannabis for alcohol is “soaring” as the state-level legalization movement expands and relative perceptions of harm shift. A significant portion of Americans also said in that poll that they substitute marijuana for cigarettes and painkillers.

Another BI analysis from last September projected that the expansion of the marijuana legalization movement will continue to post a “significant threat” to the alcohol industry, citing survey data that suggests more people are using cannabis as a substitute for alcoholic beverages such a beer and wine.

Yet another study on the impact of marijuana consumption on people’s use of other drugs that was released in December suggested that, for many, cannabis may act as a less-dangerous substitute, allowing people to reduce their intake of substances such as alcohol, methamphetamine and opioids like morphine.

A study out of Canada, where marijuana is federally legal, found that legalization was “associated with a decline in beer sales,” suggesting a substitution effect.

The analyses comport with other recent survey data that more broadly looked at American views on marijuana versus alcohol. For example, a Gallup survey found that respondents view cannabis as less harmful than alcohol, tobacco and nicotine vapes—and more adults now smoke cannabis than smoke cigarettes.

A separate survey released by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and Morning Consult last June also found that Americans consider marijuana to be significantly less dangerous than cigarettes, alcohol and opioids—and they say cannabis is less addictive than each of those substances, as well as technology.

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