A new study shows that the number of Americans who’ve ever used marijuana has increased by over five percent in just eight years.
Researchers found, after examining data collected by the National Survey of Drug Use and Health funded by the Federal Government (NSDUH), that the use of blunt smoking has increased significantly from 2015 until 2022. The largest increases in usage were seen among women and older adults who don’t drink alcohol.
The journal Addictive Behaviours published a paper that said “Much increase in blunt-smoking was observed among group with historically lower usage rates.”
The research found that the overall number of Americans who have smoked a blunt cannabis product has increased by 21,7 percent between 2015 and 2022. The use of blunts in the last 30 days has increased by 34.4 percent and daily blunt smoking is now more common among marijuana users.
Smoking blunt cigarettes daily and for life has increased in prevalence among US adults from 2015-2022.
The researchers—from the University of Texas, Brown University, University of California Los Angeles and University of Cincinnati—said the rise in blunt smoking is “consistent with prior research showing an increase in cannabis use (of any modality) in national samples.”
However, they warned that “the inclusion and use of the tobacco-wrapper presents unique and elevated risk relative to other modes of cannabis usage.”
The NSDUH included survey responses of 326,087 adult respondents as well a subsample consisting of 22,294 currently blunt-smoking adults to analyze daily blunt smoking.
“Lifetime blunt smoking increased significantly more among non-Hispanic White (23.7 %) and Hispanic (30.2 %) relative to non-Hispanic Black (8.6 %) adults; similar increases were observed among those older than 18–25 years,” the researchers wrote. The researchers found that current blunt smoking was higher among women (63.6%) than among men (19.0%), and also among people who didn’t drink alcohol (92.3%) compared to alcohol-users (23.4%). Non-Hispanic White adults smoked more daily blunt cigarettes (80.4%) than non-Hispanic Black adults (3.7%).
Meanwhile, a recently survey found that a majority of Americans believe marijuana represents a “healthier option” than alcohol—and most also expect cannabis to be legal in all 50 states within the next five years.
Last month, another poll showed that a majority of Americans don’t consider marijuana dangerous, though most do think consuming cannabis increases the likelihood that people will transition to using more dangerous drugs.
A survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate Partners, showed that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with President Donald Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.