Historical data from colonial India shows alcohol and cannabis were economic substitutes
Analysis of 1911-1925 Bengal district data found people treated alcohol and cannabis bud as substitutes (when one got expensive, they switched to the other) while cannabis leaf complemented alcohol.
Quick Facts
What This Study Found
Alcohol and cannabis bud functioned as economic substitutes; cannabis leaf was a complement to alcohol but a substitute for cannabis bud; alcohol, cannabis bud, and opium all showed negative income elasticity.
Key Numbers
25 districts analyzed over 14 years (1911-1925); three substances examined; negative income elasticity found for alcohol, cannabis bud, and opium.
How They Did This
Economic analysis of district-level consumption data from 25 Bengal districts (1911-1925) examining price elasticity, cross-price elasticity, and income elasticity for alcohol, cannabis (bud and leaf separately), and opium in a legal market.
Why This Research Matters
Modern legalization debates often ask whether cannabis substitutes for alcohol; this study provides rare data from a period when all three substances were legal and regulated.
The Bigger Picture
The substitution relationship between alcohol and cannabis observed over a century ago in a very different context echoes findings from modern US legalization studies.
What This Study Doesn't Tell Us
Historical data from colonial Bengal may not generalize to modern contexts; district-level data obscures individual behavior; legal and cultural context differed vastly from today; data quality from the period is uncertain.
Questions This Raises
- ?Do modern legal cannabis markets show similar substitution patterns?
- ?What explains the negative income elasticity?
- ?Would similar analysis of modern multi-substance markets yield comparable results?
Trust & Context
- Key Stat:
- Alcohol and cannabis bud were economic substitutes in legal Bengal markets over a century ago
- Evidence Grade:
- Unique historical dataset spanning 14 years and 25 districts, though colonial-era data collection and vastly different context limit modern applicability.
- Study Age:
- Published 2025, data from 1911-1925
- Original Title:
- Substitution and Complementarity in the Consumption of Alcohol, Cannabis, and Opium.
- Published In:
- Health economics, 34(5), 827-854 (2025)
- Authors:
- Chandra, Siddharth(2), Doshi, Gaurav
- Database ID:
- RTHC-06181
Evidence Hierarchy
Follows a group of people over time to track how outcomes develop.
What do these levels mean? →Frequently Asked Questions
Were cannabis and alcohol substitutes?
Yes, specifically cannabis bud and alcohol. When alcohol prices rose, cannabis bud consumption increased, and vice versa.
What about cannabis leaf?
Cannabis leaf showed a different pattern. It complemented alcohol (used together) but substituted for cannabis bud.
Read More on RethinkTHC
Cite This Study
https://rethinkthc.com/research/RTHC-06181APA
Chandra, Siddharth; Doshi, Gaurav. (2025). Substitution and Complementarity in the Consumption of Alcohol, Cannabis, and Opium.. Health economics, 34(5), 827-854. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4938
MLA
Chandra, Siddharth, et al. "Substitution and Complementarity in the Consumption of Alcohol, Cannabis, and Opium.." Health economics, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.4938
RethinkTHC
RethinkTHC Research Database. "Substitution and Complementarity in the Consumption of Alcoh..." RTHC-06181. Retrieved from https://rethinkthc.com/research/chandra-2025-substitution-and-complementarity-in
Access the Original Study
Study data sourced from PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.
This study breakdown was produced by the RethinkTHC research team. We analyze and report published research findings without making health recommendations. All interpretations are based solely on the published abstract and study data.