We have always been a nation of drinkers — but now there are more daily users of cannabis than alcohol. Considering alcohol’s harms, maybe that’s a good thing. But some people worry that the legalization of cannabis has outpaced the research. (Part one of a four-part series.)

• SOURCES:
  • Jon Caulkins, professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Yasmin Hurd, director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai.
  • Michael Siegel, professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts University.
  • Tom Standage, deputy editor of The Economist.
  • Ryan Stoa, associate professor of law at Louisiana State University.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Cannabis Tops Alcohol as Americans’ Daily Drug of Choice," by Christina Caron (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021," by Marissa B. Esser, Adam Sherk, Yong Liu, and Timothy S. Naimi (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 2024).
  • "Nixon Started the War on Drugs. Privately, He Said Pot Was ‘Not Particularly Dangerous,'" by Ernesto Londoño (The New York Times, 2024).
  • "A Brief Global History of the War on Cannabis," by Ryan Stoa (The MIT Press Reader, 2020).
  • Craft Weed: Family Farming and the Future of the Marijuana Industry, by Ryan Stoa (2018).
  • "How the Sugar Industry Shifted Blame to Fat," by Anahad O’Connor (The New York Times, 2016).
  • "The Perils of Ignoring History: Big Tobacco Played Dirty and Millions Died. How Similar Is Big Food?" by Kelly D. Brownell and Kenneth E. Warner (The Milbank Quarterly, 2009).
  • A History Of The World In Six Glasses, by Tom Standage (2005).
  • "Cancer and Coronary Artery Disease Among Seventh-Day Adventists," by E. L. Wynder, F. R. Lemon, and I. J. Bross (Cancer, 1959).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Why Is the Opioid Epidemic Still Raging?" series by Freakonomics Radio (2024).
  • "Daron Acemoglu on Economics, Politics, and Power," by People I (Mostly) Admire (2024).
  • "Let’s Be Blunt: Marijuana Is a Boon for Older Workers," by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • "What’s More Dangerous: Marijuana or Alcohol?" by Freakonomics Radio (2014).