Marijuana Regulations Protect Public Health Better Than Alcohol Rules Do, New Government-Funded Study Finds

State agencies that regulate marijuana are far more attentive to public
health concerns than the those charged with overseeing alcohol, a new
government-funded study has concluded.

“Cannabis regulatory agencies largely outperform alcohol regulatory
agencies in terms of their articulated public health goals, activities, and
policies,” the authors, all affiliated with the University of Maryland,
wrote.

For the study, researchers analyzed recent annual reports from state
regulatory agencies in all 24 U.S. states where adult use cannabis is legal
as of mid-2025. They compared how cannabis and alcohol regulatory agencies
outlined their goals, reported collaboration with health agencies and
described activities aimed at improving public health and safety.

According to the analysis, 68 percent of cannabis regulatory agencies
referenced public health goals in their mission statements, compared with
just 35 percent of those that oversee alcohol.

As some campaigns to legalize recreational cannabis swept through state
ballots over the last decade, “regulate marijuana like alcohol” was a
common refrain—but the new study suggests that in practice, marijuana is
now being regulated more robustly than alcohol when it comes to key public
health measures.

The authors also observed differences in outcomes among states, depending
on the manner in which marijuana legalization was achieved.

“Compared to states that legalized adult-use cannabis through ballot
initiatives, states that legalized through their legislatures reported more
public health indicators for both cannabis and alcohol regulators,” they
wrote.

The paper also notes that while the initial wave of laws ending marijuana
prohibition were passed via voter initiatives, “states adopting adult-use
cannabis legalization more recently have predominantly legalized through
their state legislatures and have cannabis regulators that report on a
greater number of cannabis-related public health issues.”

Regardless of the method of legalization, the researchers, who are
affiliated with the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the
University of Maryland, concluded that “adult-use cannabis regulatory
agencies reported all public health indicators more often, while alcohol
regulatory agencies reported engaging in law enforcement efforts more often
than cannabis regulators.”

The study was funded by a grant from the California Department of Cannabis
Control and published in the December 2025 edition of the scientific
journal International Journal of Drug Policy.

The authors caution that further investigation would be beneficial in
understanding the differences among state regulations. “More research is
needed to assess whether public health-related actions reported by cannabis
agencies translate into tangible public health benefits among cannabis
using and affected populations,” they wrote.

The new study comes as members of Congress have teamed up across the aisle
to prepare the federal government to regulate marijuana like alcohol. One
bill that has been introduced in the House would direct the attorney
general to create a commission charged with making recommendations on a
regulatory system for cannabis that models what is currently in place for
alcohol.

It also comes at a time when a coalition of leading alcohol industry groups
successfully urged Congress to impose a ban on intoxicating hemp products—though
they said they would ultimately like federal officials develop a
comprehensive regulatory framework for the products.

Additionally, the study comes on the heels of a GOP senator saying in June
that opponents of marijuana legalization “have lost” the fight to maintain
prohibition and that it’s time for lawmakers to address that reality by
creating a regulatory framework treating cannabis “in the same way that we
do with alcohol and tobacco,” so that states can set their own policies
without federal interference.

The post Marijuana Regulations Protect Public Health Better Than Alcohol
Rules Do, New Government-Funded Study Finds appeared first on Marijuana
Moment.