New research suggests that young people prefer to use cannabis on some days when they don’t consume alcohol. The corresponding study was published in Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research.
Alcohol is the most common substance used among young adults aged 18- 25 years old. Although rates of alcohol use are declining among young adults, as of 2022, 30.5% of young adults reported binge drinking in the last two weeks. Understanding more about alcohol use consumption patterns among young adults may help develop prevention and intervention efforts for the negative effects of alcohol use, which include drunk driving, alcohol and substance use disorders, and physical harm.
For the study, the searchers analyzed data from a 14-day-long daily survey on alcohol consumption and motives for consumption from 765 participants. They found that ‘I wasn’t interested in drinking’ was the most common reason for abstaining from drinking alcohol consumption. Other commonly referenced reasons included: ‘I didn’t want to get drunk’, “I didn’t want alcohol to interfere with school/ work’ and ‘I don’t usually drink on weekdays’. Furthermore, 29.5% of participants reported substituting alcohol with a different drug, with cannabis being the most common substitute.
The researchers also found that underlying motives for alcohol use had a significant impact on why some chose to abstain from alcohol on certain days. They reported in their paper:
“Those who endorsed more coping motives had greater odds of endorsing "I needed money for things other than alcohol" and "I upset my family/friends when I drink alcohol." Those who endorsed more enhancement motives had greater odds of endorsing "I used another drug instead of alcohol" and lower odds of endorsing "I do not drink alcohol." Those who endorsed more conformity motives had greater odds of endorsing "I didn't have anyone to drink with," "I upset my family/friends when I drink alcohol," and "I was quarantining or sick."”
The researchers wrote that the findings could influence policies to impact consumption behaviors. For example, as almost 73% of people cited needing money as a reason for not drinking, future research could investigate how potential interventions such as increasing the price of alcohol impact alcohol consumption.
Sources: NewsMedical.net, Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research