Cannabis Outpacing Cigarettes for the First Time Ever

For the first time ever, more American adults are using cannabis than cigarettes, according to the latest Gallup poll. Sixteen percent of respondents said they had consumed cannabis within the past week, compared to 11% who reported smoking cigarettes. Even cannabis edible usage, which were polled by Gallup for the first time ever, beat cigarettes at 14%. The findings mark a significant shift in attitudes towards cannabis use, which has been steadily growing in popularity in recent years.

Cigarette smoking has long been on the decline in the United States, thanks to public health campaigns and increased awareness of the risks of tobacco use. Reaching a high of 45% in the mid-‘50s, cigarettes have been steadily losing ground since the landmark 1964 Surgeon General’s Report tying its use to lung cancer, emphysema and other illnesses. Cannabis use, on the other hand, has been on the rise, with more states legalizing the drug for medical and adult-use purposes.

The Gallup poll is just the latest indication that cannabis use is becoming more mainstream. It's a trend that is likely to continue as more states legalize the drug and public attitudes continue to shift.

Looking Positive

Of course, alcohol consumption continues to be more popular than both cigarettes and cannabis with the American public by a wide margin. Overall, 67% of Americans polled classified themselves as drinkers, versus 16% as cannabis users. However, the attitudes Americans have towards drinking are far more conflicted. 7 in 10 of those polled believed alcohol had a negative effect on those who used it. In contrast, 49% of those polled felt cannabis had a positive effect on society — and this is in a country where less than half the states have fully legalized it.

The reason for this shift in popular perception most likely lies in the increase in those who have tried cannabis. In 1969, the year when Gallup first started asking Americans about their cannabis usage, only 4% said they had ever done so, compared to 48% today, with 16% currently smoking, a 9% leap from those who had answered in the affirmative in 2013. And not surprisingly, those who have at least tried cannabis are more likely to believe that cannabis has a positive effect on its users than those who haven’t — 70% versus 35% — while 66% of the same cohort feels it has a positive effect on society, versus the 27% that has not. This could possibly be tied to cannabis’s added use as a health and wellness tool, versus alcohol, whose reputation as a medicinal substance has declined since its heyday in the 19th and early 20th century.

Where it goes from Here

Alongside the recent Monitoring the Future report, which found a 42.6% past year prevalence in use among the nation’s 19-to-30 year-olds, this poll shows a continued move by cannabis to take its place alongside alcohol as an adult-use pastime, and to utterly eclipse cigarettes. Not surprisingly, Big Tobacco has taken notice. In particular, the tobacco giant Altria has bought a stake in Canadian cannabis business Cronos, taken out several cannabis-related patents and last year lobbied in Virginia to make cannabis legal in that state.

While the Gallup pollsters did not expect cigarettes to recover any of their lost ground, they struck a cautious tone on cannabis, depending on who wins the war of words currently being conducted between cannabis advocates and prohibitionists. However, the same Gallup pollsters acknowledge that 68% of the American public is ready to see cannabis legalized, a figure that has risen sharply since 1969, when it was only 12%. So while the future, as always, is uncertain, the present is quite bright.