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About one in three Americans say their holiday “pregame” routine involves using marijuana, according to a new survey.
The poll from the Freeman Recovery Center looked at a variety of ways the use of alcohol and other drugs intersects with with the holiday season, when family get-togethers and financial stress from gift giving tend to come to a head. As it turns out, a sizable portion of Americans are using cannabis to decompress.
“Because holiday celebrations are so ingrained in American culture, it can be challenging to pinpoint what exactly exacerbates substance use behaviors around this time of year. However, we wanted to figure out why,” the center said.
The survey of over 1,000 respondents “revealed that for many, substances like alcohol weren’t just part of holiday parties, but a way to endure the season,” it said.
About half of Americans said they “pre-game” before holiday family gatherings. Alcohol is the most common choice at 51 percent, but cannabis now comes in second at 31 percent—including 43 percent of Gen Z and millennials. Another 12 percent said they used psychedelics before family events.
For people with a substance use history, that increased: 68 percent used alcohol, 50 percent consumed cannabis and 26 percent opted for psychedelics.
“Despite financial stress being a common experience during the holidays, not every generation turned to substances. For example, 42 percent of Gen X and 68 percent of baby boomers said they had not used substances to cope with holiday financial pressure,” the center said. “On the other hand, millennials reported the most self-medication when faced with financial stress, with 54 percent using alcohol and 45 percent using cannabis.”
The data on cannabis usage during the holidays isn’t especially surprising, as more than half of American adults report having use cannabis, according to a 2023 Pew poll from this summer, and 23 percent said they consumed marijuana in the prior year.
When it comes to holidays specifically, mainstream media outlets this past November picked up on a trend that’s long been practiced within the cannabis community: the “cousin walk,” a Thanksgiving pre-game (and usually pre-dinner) tradition for some where the typically younger adults at a gathering will sneak away for a cannabis break before the feast begins.
Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso.
Kyle Jaeger is Marijuana Moment’s Sacramento-based managing editor. He’s covered drug policy for more than a decade—specializing in state and federal marijuana and psychedelics issues at publications that also include High Times, VICE and attn. In 2022, Jaeger was named Benzinga’s Cannabis Policy Reporter of the Year.
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