A team of researchers affiliated with the U.S. National Institutes of Health recently conducted a study examining, among other things, the rate of cannabis use by adults in the United States. The study’s findings were published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
The study used data from the 2024 Health Information National Trends Survey, which asked about past 12-month cannabis use. The survey also asked about which consumption method cannabis consumers used, such as smoking, vaping, dabbing, edibles, drinkables, and topicals. The study also asked about tobacco use.
“An estimated 23.1% of US adults reported past 12-month cannabis use: 62.6% smoked, 57.6% consumed, 40.1% vaped, 15.2% applied lotion, and 12.4% dabbed, with over half (52.7%) endorsing >1 route of administration.” the study found.
“Cannabis use was higher among adults who currently used tobacco products (46.0%) compared to those who did not (17.4%) (p < 0.001). Among those reporting past 12-month cannabis use, those who currently used tobacco (vs. did not) were more likely to smoke cannabis (73.4% vs. 55.6%, p = 0.001), vape cannabis (52.4% vs. 32.1%, p < 0.001), or use 2+ routes (60% vs 47.9%, p = 0.02).” the researchers added.
It is estimated that there are roughly 270 million adults in the United States. If 23.1% of them consume cannabis at least once a year, that works out to over 62 million cannabis consumers. Cannabis is currently legal for recreational use in 24 states in the U.S. Additionally, cannabis is legal for medical use in 40 states. Cannabis is legal for both recreational and medical use in Washington, D.C.
For contextual purposes, the European Union Drugs Agency estimates that Spain has the highest past 12-month cannabis usage rate among adults in EU countries at 12.6%, followed by France and Italy at 10.8% each, and Germany at 9.8%.
Canada, which adopted a national adult-use cannabis legalization measure in 2018, estimates that 26% of adults have consumed cannabis for non-medical purposes at least once in the past 12 months.
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