The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: American use of marijuana on the rise

The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use & Health was released today.  This is the annual survey where federal surveyors go door-to-door asking people if they smoke, drink, and do drugs.  So keep in mind as you review these figures that these represent people aged 12 and older who are willing to admit to breaking state and federal laws when asked by a total stranger at their doorstep.

Use of Marijuana is up again for nearly every age demographic and frequency of use

Lifetime Use of Marijuana:  In 2007, 40.6% of Americans admitted to trying cannabis at least once in their life.  This year, the figure rose to 41%, representing an additional 2 million Americans who’ve smoked pot, for a total of 102,404,000.  Youth marijuana use rose for 12-, 13-, & 15-year-olds and declined slightly for 14-, 16-, and 17-year-olds.  At ages 18 & 19, lifetime use remained topped 40%, and for adults in their twenties, over half have tried marijuana (ex. age 20 = 49.8%).  Lifetime use figures for thirty-somethings declined to mid-48% levels.  The highest lifetime use rates were reported among Americans in their forties, with 55.1% of those 40-44 and 57.6% of those 45-49 having “experimented a time a two in their youth”, as President Bill Clinton once said.  More than half (53.2%) of people in their early fifties have tried marijuana.

If you meet someone aged 20-55, flip a coin.  Heads they’ve smoked pot, tails they know someone who has.

Regular Adult Use of Marijuana: Focusing now only on adults aged 18 and older, we find that 43.7% of all adults – a record 98,296,000 people – have tried marijuana.  But also, past year (annual) and past month use of marijuana has risen among adults.  A full 10% of all adults used marijuana at least once in the past year – 22,531,000 people – and a full 6% of all adults have consumed cannabis in the past month – 13,546,000.  This represents 593,000 new annual tokers and 784,000 new monthly tokers since the 2007 survey.

Is it really conceivable that 10% of the American people are criminals this year? The current US prison population is 2.1 million – is it really possible that this month there are almost six-and-a-half times more criminals on the streets than behind bars?

Prevalence of Adult Marijuana Use:  For the 22,531,000 adults who used marijuana this year, we find those users to be using more often.  Among 18-25-year-olds, infrequent use (<12 days in a year) dropped from 31.9% to 30.6%, and for those 26 and older, it dropped from 34.1% to 33%.  Among annual users, 41.1% of 18-25-year-olds tokers and 39.2% of the over-25-year-old tokers are using at least 100 days per year.  That makes 9,006,000 adults who are using marijuana at least 100 days per year and 3,586,000 who are nearly daily (300+ days per year) tokers.

That means there are more adult daily tokers than the population of Connecticut. There are more adult weekly tokers than the population of New Jersey.  There are more adult monthly tokers than the population of New York.  There are more people in America who’ve tried marijuana than the populations of California, Texas, New York, and Florida combined.