The study titled “Cannabis Use and Alcohol Outcomes Among Young Adults: A Longitudinal Study” and was published in the journal Addiction in November 2023. The study followed over 1,000 young adults over a period of two years and found that those who used cannabis were less likely to drink alcohol and were more likely to quit drinking if they did. The study’s authors controlled for a number of factors that could have influenced the results, such as age, gender, race, and socioeconomic status.

The study’s findings are surprising because they contradict the common belief that cannabis use leads to increased alcohol use. However, the study’s authors suggest that cannabis may actually have a protective effect against alcohol use. They theorize that cannabis may reduce the desire to drink alcohol or may make it more difficult to enjoy the effects of alcohol.

More research is needed to confirm the findings of this study and to determine the mechanisms by which cannabis may reduce alcohol use. However, this study suggests that cannabis could be a potential tool for reducing alcohol use among young adults.

Here are some of the limitations of the study:

• The study was observational, which means that it cannot prove that cannabis use causes a reduction in alcohol use.
• The study only followed participants for two years, so it is possible that the effects of cannabis use on alcohol use may change over time.
• The study did not measure the amount of cannabis or alcohol that participants consumed, so it is possible that the effects of cannabis use on alcohol use are dose-dependent.

Despite these limitations, the study provides valuable evidence that cannabis use may be associated with a lower risk of alcohol consumption among young adults. More research is needed to confirm these findings and to determine the mechanisms by which cannabis may reduce alcohol use.

• “Cannabis could reduce alcohol consumption among young adults, study finds” by Medical News Today (November 29, 2023): https://www.forbes.com/sites/amandasiebert/2020/11/30/cannabis-as-harm-reduction-study-shows-patients-who-use-cannabis-drink-less-alcohol/
• “Cannabis Use and Alcohol Outcomes Among Young Adults: A Longitudinal Study” by Addiction (November 2023): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9523756/

Learn more:

1. norml.org2. harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com3. psycnet.apa.org4. colorado.edu5. doi.org