American Adults Increasingly Choose Marijuana And Psychedelics Over Cigarettes, Federally Funded Study Finds

A new federally funded study shows that rates of cigarette use have continued to decline among adults in the U.S., as more people opt for marijuana and psychedelics. And a top federal health official says this trend underscores “the urgent need for rigorous research on the potential risks and benefits” of the substances—something she has previously said is stymied by their restrictive Schedule I status.

The latest results from the annual Monitoring the Future survey—funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research—examine drug use behaviors among adults aged 19-30 and 35-50.

The study found that cannabis and psychedelics remain increasingly popular, with rates of use at “historically high levels in 2023,” the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) said.

“In contrast, past-year use of cigarettes remained at historically low levels in both adult groups,” it said. “Past-month and daily alcohol use continued a decade-long decline among those 19 to 30 years old, with binge drinking reaching all-time lows.”

For those 19-30, 42 percent said they’ve used marijuana in the past year, 29 percent in the past month and 10 percent daily (which is defined as use on 20 or more occasions in the past month). For adults 35-50, those rates were 29 percent (past year), 19 percent (past month) and 8 percent (daily). While the 2023 findings were not statistically different from earlier 2022 results, they still represent “five- and 10-year increases for both age groups.”

“Hallucinogen use in the past year continued a five-year steep incline for both adult groups, reaching 9 percent for adults 19 to 30 and 4 percent for adults 35 to 50 in 2023,” NIDA said. “Types of hallucinogens reported by participants included LSD, mescaline, peyote, shrooms or psilocybin, and PCP.”

#Vaping among younger adults and binge drinking among mid-life adults also maintained historically high levels, according to the 2023 #MTF survey results. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/aQb6aYbSOv

— NIDAnews (@NIDAnews) August 29, 2024

As other recent studies have found, the Monitoring the Future offered more evidence that young adults are simultaneously abandoning cigarettes and alcohol. And that decline is largely attributable to education and outreach, without the government needing to resort to prohibitionist policies to steer public health trends.

While alcohol remains the most commonly used drug, adults 19-30 reported all-time lows in past-month drinking (65 percent), daily drinking (4 percent) and binge drinking (27 percent).

Past-year cigarette use among young adults was 18.8 percent in 2023, with past-month rates at 8.8 percent and daily use at 3.6 percent.

“We have seen that people at different stages of adulthood are trending toward use of drugs like cannabis and psychedelics and away from tobacco cigarettes,” NIDA Director Nora Volkow said in a press release. “These findings underscore the urgent need for rigorous research on the potential risks and benefits of cannabis and hallucinogens–especially as new products continue to emerge.”

Volkow has long advocated for removing research barriers for Schedule I drugs such as marijuana and certain psychedelics. And historically federal officials have focused on research to identify drug-related risks, so the NIDA director’s comment on studies exploring benefits are notable.

In May, Volkow said there is “tremendous excitement” about the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. However, she cautioned that while the treatment option is “very promising,” people should understand that “it’s not magic” and needs more rigorous research.

The results of the Monitoring the Future survey are consistent with other recent research, including a Gallup poll published last week that found Americans view marijuana as less harmful than alcohol, tobacco and nicotine vapes—and more adults now smoke cannabis than smoke cigarettes.

Another survey from YouGov that was released last month showed that Americans 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.

The report notes that its findings support those of a separate study published in May in the journal Addiction that similarly found that there are more U.S. adults who use marijuana daily than who drink alcohol every day.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) also had a study last year showing that people increasingly view smoking marijuana or being exposed to secondhand cannabis smoke as safer than smoking or being near tobacco smoke.

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.

Also, a study published last year found that state-level legalization is associated with a “small, occasionally significant longer-run declines in adult tobacco use.”

Additionally, a poll Gallup conducted in 2020 found that 70 percent of Americans view smoking cannabis to be a morally acceptable activity. That’s higher than their views on the morality of issues such as gay relationships, medical testing of animals, the death penalty and abortion.

Meanwhile, Gallup also released data in February finding that young people are more than five times more likely to consume cannabis than tobacco.

The polling firm also published a survey last year showing that a record 70 percent of Americans back marijuana legalization.

Another poll released last week found that marijuana use is one of the only crimes that a majority of Americans say is punished too harshly—and bipartisan majorities also back expunging prior cannabis convictions.

Also, another recent series of polls found widespread majority support for cannabis legalization, federal rescheduling and marijuana industry banking access among likely voters in three key presidential battleground states: Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.