Last week, the University of Washington released the findings from a study that aimed to answer whether legal cannabis might lead consumers to use cannabis instead of alcohol, or in addition to more alcohol.
The answer? No one yet knows for sure.
The researchers, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, evaluated more than 750 studies on the relationship between cannabis and alcohol. Some indicated that cannabis is used as an alcohol substitute, a positive outcome that, according to the university, “could greatly reduce the costs of healthcare, traffic accidents and lower workplace productivity related to excessive drinking.”
Other studies suggest that people use cannabis and alcohol in combination, which is concerning to public health professionals. “Those who use both substances simultaneously are twice as likely to drive drunk and face social troubles such as drunken brawls and relationship problems, a recent study found,” according to UW.
Alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. and that the repercussions of abuse cost the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars annually. Considering these factors, it will be important to understand whether the addition of state-legal cannabis markets will reduce–or worsen–the alcohol problem.