Men Are Using Marijuana More – Surprised?

In today’s environment, we tend to focus on the individuality of the person and not their gender, except in the world of consumer marketing. Men and women have different behavioral patterns that drive habits and purchasing decisions. Men spend more on cars and groceries and tend to be more risk-averse when investing. Women spend more on health care and clothing and are more careful with their savings.

Last year, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released data on how different men and women are when it comes to relaxation. On an average day, people aged 15 and over spend 5.3 hours a day in leisure and sports activities such as watching TV, socializing or playing sports. Men spent more time in leisure activities (5.6 hours) than women (4.9 hours). These averages include people who did these activities and those who didn’t.

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Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that men use more marijuana than women, as this follows the trend to relax and use more intoxicants. More men than women use cannabis. Gallop published data in the US that 18% of men use marijuana versus 14% of women. In Canada, the 2019 National Cannabis Survey also found that more men than women use it (20% vs. 14%).

This is also related to alcohol and cigarette consumption.

Almost 58% of adult men report drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, compared to 49% of adult women. Men are more prone to binge drinking than women. About 21% of men report binge drinking, compared to 13% of women.

There are also differences in how men and women consume. Men are more likely to use joints/blunts, vaporizers and concentrates, while women prefer pipes and oral administration like edibles.

Men tend to enjoy beer more than women, so most beer marketing is geared towards men. Bud Light, Coors Light, and Miller Light are the top-selling intoxicant brands in the United States. It is also interesting that men have been drinking more rosé than women for over 10 years.

Photo by Elevate via Unsplash

Almost every fourth adult in the world smokes tobacco. Over a third (37%) of the world’s men do this, but just over 8% of women do.

In general, men in the US tend to use all tobacco products more than women. In 2015, 16.7% of men and 13.6% of women smoked cigarettes. In Canada, while the numbers are lower, the proportion is 13% for men and just 9% for women. It says something about their tobacco campaigns that they have fewer smokers.

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Brands use this data to drive product decisions and then launch campaigns to attract customers. This data shows that the marijuana industry is doing a better job of reaching women than alcohol and tobacco…which makes sense since it’s the least harmful product.