What the Consumption Data Says About the Adult Beverage Occasion
There is an interesting gap in this year's consumer trends reports. Read alongside the last several years of data, it points to a clear opportunity for the adult beverage category.
The alcohol data
Gallup has tracked American drinking habits since 1939. Its 2026 survey yielded three particularly noteworthy findings.
54% of U.S. adults report drinking alcohol, the lowest reading in the trend since it began.
3.2 drinks per week is the average among people who still drink, down from a recent average of 3.9.
17% have used a nonalcoholic beer, wine, or spirit in place of an alcoholic drink in the past year. Gallup's own assessment of that number: use of nonalcoholic alternatives is limited.
Fewer people are drinking, those who drink are drinking less, and the substitute has not been found.
Source: Gallup, August 2026
The cannabis data
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, run annually by SAMHSA, put past-month cannabis use at 43.8 million Americans in 2025.
More telling than how many people use it is how consistently they do. Among past-month cannabis consumers, more than 40% use daily or near-daily. In absolute terms, 21.4 million Americans used cannabis on 20 or more days in the past month, compared with 19.9 million for cigarettes and 17.2 million for alcohol. It is the first time daily or near-daily cannabis use has exceeded both within the same federal dataset.
Alcohol remains far more widely consumed overall. What has changed is frequency.
Source: 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, SAMHSA
The gap
Two curves moving in opposite directions would be interesting on its own. What makes it an opportunity is the format problem sitting between them.
The overwhelming majority of cannabis consumption happens through flower, vapes, and edibles. These formats don't work as cleanly in public settings. Bringing them to a restaurant, a wedding, or a concert means either drawing attention or breaking a rule. The social settings where adult beverages are consumed have been effectively closed off for the cannabis consumer.
So the data describes a consumer base that is large, habitual, and structurally excluded from the occasions where drinking happens. At the same time, those same occasions are seeing lighter alcohol consumption and no established replacement.
A hemp beverage fills the gap. It is socially legible, approachable, portable, servable, and it fits naturally on a menu.
What it takes
For an existing beverage producer, the lift is considerably lower than one may assume. Hemp beverages run on the equipment, packaging, distribution relationships, and shelf space already in place. The cannabinoid emulsion is a small share of the cost of goods, and for most producers the regulatory and documentation work exceeds the production work.
The demand exists, too - hemp beverages are already carried by the likes of Target, Total Wine & More, and Circle K, along with breweries, bars, and restaurants across the country.
The infrastructure question is largely answered. The remaining questions are about ingredient quality, dose consistency, and compliance, which is the part we handle.
Reach us at hello@perfectlydosed.com.