Measures that increase or decrease the availability or cost of one substance may result in an increase or decrease in the use of the other substance. When considering policies that increase or decrease the use of harmful substances such as alcohol, it is important to consider the impact that policies may have on the use of other intoxicating and potentially harmful substances. The potential replacement or supplement to alcohol we are studying in this study is cannabis. In 2013, the Obama administration said the federal government would not question the state`s legalization efforts. Two years later, the Obama administration eased some restrictions on cannabis research to explore its potential as a medicine. Meanwhile, various bills have been introduced in Congress to reclassify federal marijuana planning, reduce or eliminate penalties for minor marijuana offenses, and legalize medical marijuana nationwide. Alcohol facts and statistics. (2019). National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics A lot of research has been based on evidence of how laws that improve access to medical cannabis affect alcohol consumption. The results are mixed, perhaps because the studies look at different age groups, measures of alcohol consumption and time periods. The relationship between alcohol and cannabis may differ from population to population – teens may treat these substances differently than adults. Some studies also only look at effects on people`s alcohol consumption, but no effect on the frequency or amount of their drinking.
Notably, homebrewing beer and wine is now legal in all states, unlike government-regulated production of distilled liquor (Mississippi and Alabama were the last to legalize this activity in 2013). However, home brewers are not allowed to sell the wine and beer they produce. ** Defined as one or more beverages of an alcoholic beverage ≥1 day in the past 30 days, but no excessive alcohol consumption, determined by answers to the basic questions: „How many days a week or month have you had at least one glass of an alcoholic beverage such as beer, wine, malt or liquor in the past 30 days?“ and „Taking into account all types of alcoholic beverages, how many times in the past 30 days have you had X (X = 5 for men; X = 4 for women) or more drinks on one occasion? Alcohol consumption remains a major public health problem in the United States, as the risk of fatal motor vehicle accidents, heart disease and various cancers increases (Klatsky et al., 2015; Room et al., 2005; Zaloshnja et al., 2013). According to 2018 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), over 55% of people report being current drinkers (i.e., having consumed alcohol in the past 30 days) (Alcohol Facts and Statistics 2019). Alcohol consumption in the United States increases over time. A recent meta-analysis found an annual increase in alcohol consumption (0.30% per year [95% CI, 0.22%, 0.38%]) and heavy drinking (0.72% per year [95% CI, 0.46%, 0.98%]) from 2000 to 2016 (Grucza et al. 2018). Martinez and colleagues found an increase in per capita alcohol sold for beer, spirits, and wine products in the United States nationally and in most states from 2003 to 2016 (Martinez et al. 2019). This trend of increasing alcohol consumption raises concerns about alcohol-related morbidity and mortality.
Wen, H., Hockenberry, J., & Cummings, J. R. (2014). The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Marijuana, Alcohol and Hard Drug Use (Working Paper No. 20085; Working Paper Series). National Bureau of Economic Research. doi.org/10.3386/w20085 Subbaraman. Substitution and complementarity of alcohol and cannabis: a review of the literature. Substance abuse. 2016;51(11):1399–414. doi.org/10.3109/10826084.2016.1170145. Subbaraman MS, & Kerr WC.
Subgroup trends in concurrent use of alcohol and cannabis and related harms during the introduction of recreational cannabis legalization in Washington State. Int J Drug Policy, 7;5.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.07.003 Over the past decade, many U.S. states have authorized the use of marijuana for medical purposes and several have completely decriminalized its use. Opponents of these measures have argued that they not only increase marijuana use, but also the use of other drugs such as alcohol and painkillers, assuming marijuana is a gateway drug. Previous research has shown that marijuana is actually not a gateway drug and that its use can provide therapeutic benefits. In this new effort, researchers found that marijuana use is not used as a gateway drug, but appears to result in a reduction in other drug use, at least for youth. ¶ Drinking patterns were divided into three groups: 1) binge drinking (four or more drinks for women or five or more drinks for men, on one occasion, one or more times in the past 30 days); 2) recent non-excessive alcohol consumption (consumption of one or more beverages of an alcoholic beverage ≥1 day in the past 30 days, but reported no excessive alcohol consumption); and 3) non-consumption of alcohol (has not consumed alcoholic beverages in the past 30 days). Veligati S, Howdeshell S, Beeler-Stinn S, Lingam D, Allen PC, Chen LS, Grucza RA. Changes in alcohol and cigarette consumption in response to the legalization of medical and recreational cannabis: evidence from state tax receipt data. Int J drug policy. 2020;75:102585. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2019.10.011.
The characteristics of households in the unrestricted sample in each policy country are presented in Table 1. Overall, states had similar distributions of household size, marital status, and race. The majority of households had an annual income of $45,000 to $124,999, consisted of 2 to 3 residents, had married heads of household, and identified primarily as white. The average monthly alcohol consumption for all alcoholic beverages combined by a given household was highest in Washington (415 ml per month) and lowest in Colorado (230 ml per month). In the unrestricted sample of households, alcohol purchased was higher in Washington than in the corresponding control group, but similar in Colorado and Oregon compared to their respective controls. When comparing alcohol purchased in the unrestricted sample with the restricted sample, Colorado and Oregon showed notable changes in pre-legalization purchasing patterns; from a downward trend to a flat or slightly upward trend in Colorado and from a downward trend to an upward trend in Oregon. Alcohol has been part of American culture for hundreds of years. Some Native American tribes used alcohol for ceremonial purposes during the pre-colonial period. In the sixteenth century, Mayflower pilgrims landed illegally on Cape Cod and not at their charter destination in Virginia because they wanted to replenish their beer supply. In the 1820s, Americans of all ages drank more than at any time in our history — they consumed on average about three times as much alcohol per day as their twenty-first century counterparts.
The researchers found that respondents` alcohol consumption was lower on average in the previous month after marijuana legalization, as were episodes of heavy drinking. They also found a decrease in the abuse of painkillers and the use of nicotine products other than e-cigarettes. Surprisingly, researchers found that the use of such devices was increasing. They suspect this was due to their novelty and the increase in use nationwide, and had nothing to do with the legalization of marijuana. Adding questions on government surveillance systems for alcohol, marijuana and other substances at the same time could strengthen surveillance of risk factors or risks associated with the use of multiple substances. The Community Prevention Services Working Group recommends evidence-based strategies (e.g., price increases or restricted access) to reduce excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and related harms. Similar strategies may also be effective in reducing marijuana use and its potential harms. BRFSS is an annual randomly selected federal landline and mobile phone survey † collects information on health conditions and risk factors among the non-institutionalized U.S. adult population aged ≥18. The current study was conducted with the following question, which was added to the Colorado survey: „In the past 30 days, how many days did you use marijuana or hashish?“ Current marijuana use was defined as the use of marijuana, including hashish, on the ≥1 day in the past 30 days. The frequency of marijuana use in the past 30 days was classified as 1 to 3, 4 to 19 and ≥20 days (daily or almost daily use).