Science & Health
Daily Marijuana Use Now Outpaces Alcohol Drinking And Cigarette Smoking, Federal Report Shows
Americans are now more likely to use marijuana nearly every day than they are to smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol on a daily basis, according to a new federal study.
The 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), released on Monday, shows that 21.4 million Americans over the age of 12 admit to using marijuana on a daily or almost-daily basis, which is measured as having consumed it on 20 or more days during a 30-day period.
In comparison, 17.2 million Americans said they use alcohol every day or almost every day, using the same definition.
When it comes to daily cigarette use, the survey only measures respondents who smoked them on each of the past 30 days, with 19.9 million saying they did so.
Daily or near daily marijuana use also outpaces that for nicotine vaping (17.5 million), cigar smoking (2 million) and smokeless tobacco (4.3 million), the results show.
The fact that frequent cannabis consumption is now more popular than using alcohol or cigarettes comes as the latter two substances remain completely federally legal, and not subject to the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), while marijuana is still largely federally prohibited—although the Trump administration has reclassified medical cannabis as a Schedule III substance and is considering broader rescheduling.
The latest results of the annual NSDUH, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), also shows that teen marijuana use is continuing to decline, even as more states legalize cannabis for adults—undermining a key argument often voiced by opponents of the reform.
Meanwhile, a prior study using NSDUH data found that more Americans now consume cannabis every day than drink alcohol on a daily basis. Since 1992, it showed, the per capita rate of daily cannabis consumption in the country has increased nearly 15 times over.
Separate research based on the federally funded Monitoring the Future study showed that younger adults are nearly three times more likely to use marijuana than alcohol on a daily or near-daily basis.
Gallup in 2024 reported that its polling data shows that American adults are now more likely to smoke marijuana than tobacco cigarettes.
