More Americans think it’d be good if people switched to marijuana and drank less alcohol than think the substance substitution would be bad, according to a new poll.

When asked in the YouGov survey, twenty-seven percent agreed that it’d be ideal if people used more cannabis instead of booze, whereas 20 percent said that would be a bad idea.

However, most respondents (38 percent) said it would be neither good nor bad, and an additional 15 percent said they weren’t sure.

While there’s been ample discussion about the pros and cons of alcohol versus cannabis, advocates have been quick to point out that liquor is strongly associated with long-term health issues and people can die from alcohol poisoning.

In contrast, there are no recorded deaths attributed solely to a marijuana overdose—by the federal government’s own admission—and the plant’s compounds have been shown to be medically beneficial for a number of health conditions.

The demographic breakdown of the poll, which involved interviews with 10,412 Americans on February 28, found that Democrats were more likely to say that making the switch to marijuana from alcohol would be good (34 percent), compared to Republicans (18 percent) and independents (27 percent).

People aged 30-44 were the most likely to say cannabis substitution would be good (34 percent), whereas just 17 percent of those 65 and older said the same.

Regardless of public opinion, it does appear that states where cannabis is legalized for adult use are seeing a stronger trend toward marijuana sales over time.

For example, Massachusetts is officially collecting more tax revenue from marijuana than alcohol, state data released last month shows.

Illinois also saw cannabis taxes beat out booze for the first time last year, with the state collecting about $100 million more from adult-use marijuana than alcohol during 2021.

A 2019 report separately found that the number of drunk-driving accidents in Idaho decreased following the legalization of cannabis in neighboring Washington State.

Source: https://www.marijuanamoment.net/more-americans-say-it-would-be-better-if-people-used-marijuana-instead-of-alcohol-poll-shows/