New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on marijuana use by thousands of U.S. Adults shows that although smoking is still the most popular method, eating, dabbing and vaping are also becoming more popular.
A brief agency report published last week looks at the data from Behavioral Risk Factor Survey System, a nationwide annual telephone survey for people over 18 years old. The report focuses on responses collected from an “optional marijuana modules” which was part of the survey for 2022.
Module included questions about cannabis use methods for users of the previous month.
The survey allows for the first time in 2016 to select the module. You can find out more about this by clicking here. Use methods. In the years 2017-2021, marijuana modules allowed only one method of usage.
When comparing the results of 2022 with those of 2016, authors found that, “the prevalence of eating and vaping cannabis was each higher in 2020,” as well as “the frequency of reporting multiple methods of use.”
The authors added that it is “important to keep track of trends” because every route of usage has its own health risks. The availability of edibles, for example has been linked to an increased rate of accidental ingestion by children.
In 2022, 15,3 percent of adult users reported using marijuana currently, and 7.9 percent said they used it daily. Most users (79.4%) smoke, while the next most common method is eating.
About half of all adults who used marijuana (46.7 percent) reported multiple methods of use—most typically smoking and eating or smoking and vaping.
Rates of both vaping and dabbing—as well as cannabis use in general—were higher in young adults than the general adult population.
“Among adults aged 18–24 and 25–34 years,” the report says, “approximately one in four reported current marijuana use, and approximately one in eight reported daily use.”
Vaping and dabbing were also most common in the 18–24 age range, as well as among non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander respondents.
According to the CDC, both current and everyday marijuana use will be more prevalent among men, American Indians and Alaska Natives who are non-Hispanic, as well as those adults with a multiracial background, but do not hold a degree in Spanish.
In the survey, 2022’s marijuana module included 22 U.S. States and 2 territories while 2016 only covered 12 states. This difference can complicate certain comparisons.
The authors noted that questions about the routes used had not always been asked in the BRFSS or by all survey jurisdictions. The authors wrote that it was not possible for them to compare the results of previous surveys to current ones. This is because they could not examine any trends.
The paper states that data is self-reported. This “might result in underestimating prevalence estimates, if respondents are influenced by the social desirability,” it says.
As for what the findings mean for public health, authors—a four person team from CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention—said education is paramount.
“Given the prevalence of cannabis smoking, eating, vaping, and dabbing,” they wrote, “public health–related messaging specific to these routes of use can help guide persons about potential risks.”
The message can be focused on the dangers associated with these different routes of usage, such as being exposed to contaminants and adulterants when using vaping. Or, exposure to THC in high concentrations through dabbing, ingestion, or vaping.
While data from 2022 show a high level of cannabis use among teens, a separate CDC 2024 report showed a drop in teen marijuana use in the decade following the legalization of the drug in dozens or states.
By 2023, only 17 percent of teenagers will report having used marijuana in the previous month. This figure was 23% in 2013.
The CDC’s report covered a 10-year period, and while youth rates varied from one survey to the next by a couple of percentage points each time, overall the trend showed that use in the past month among high-schoolers has declined since 2013.
In particular, the rate of male students who used marijuana dropped from 25 per cent in 2013 down to 15 per cent in 2023. Over the same time frame, marijuana use among female students decreased from 22% to 19%.
Another earlier analysis from CDC found that rates of current and lifetime cannabis use among high school students have continued to drop amid the legalization movement.
Another recent federal report, published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), found that consumption among minors—defined as people 12 to 20 years of age—had fallen slightly in the past year. It also indicates that youth usage has declined significantly over the last decade, despite methodological changes which make it difficult to compare data across time.
A separate poll recently found that that more Americans smoke marijuana on a daily basis than drink alcohol every day—and that alcohol drinkers are more likely to say they would benefit from limiting their use than cannabis consumers are.
The survey showed that U.S. adult drinkers are three times more likely than marijuana users to think they would be better off using less of their favorite substance. The survey also found that lifetime alcohol consumption among adult was more prevalent than marijuana use. However, the daily cannabis usage was more popular.
An earlier report published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs that found that secondhand harm caused by marijuana use is far less prevalent than that of alcohol, with respondents reporting secondhand harm from drinking at nearly six times the rate they did for cannabis.
Yet another 2022 study from Michigan State University researchers, published in the journal PLOS One, found that “cannabis retail sales might be followed by the increased occurrence of cannabis onsets for older adults” in legal states, “but not for underage persons who cannot buy cannabis products in a retail outlet.”
The trends were observed despite adult use of marijuana and certain psychedelics reaching “historic highs” in 2022, according to separate data.
According to a poll, marijuana users say that they will increase their consumption of cannabis in order to cope with Trump’s administration.
Mike Latimer provided the photo.