Daily or near-daily cannabis and alcohol use by adults in the United States: A comparison across age groups

Background and aims: Patterns of daily or near-daily (DND) use of alcohol and cannabis among adults in the United States have been changing. The current study measured how these shifts have occurred across developmental periods of adulthood.

Design, setting, and participants: U.S. national data from the Monitoring the Future Panel Study include responses from approximately 20 000 adults aged 19 to 65 in 2023. In total, annual data from 1988 to 2023 include 389 649 responses.

Measurements: Self-report measures of use of cannabis and alcohol DND (i.e., 20 + occasions in the last 30 days) were available for the full age ranges of 19-30 years from 1988 to 2023, of 35-50 years from 2008 to 2023, and of 55-65 years in 2023.

Findings: As of 2023, DND cannabis use was nearly three times as prevalent (10.4%) as DND alcohol use (3.6%) among young adults ages 19 to 30. Early midlife adults have had a convergence but not yet a crossover; there were similar prevalence levels of DND use of cannabis (7.5%) and alcohol (7.8%) among those ages 35 to 50 in 2023. Among late midlife adults ages 55 to 65, DND alcohol use remained more than twice as prevalent (11.4%) as DND cannabis use (5.2%) in 2023.

Conclusions: In the United States, daily or near-daily (DND) alcohol use remains more prevalent than DND cannabis use among late midlife adults, but the opposite is true for young adults.