Seventeen percent of Americans aged 18 and older reported smoking pot in 2023. That is largely unchanged from Gallup’s most recent findings on the matter. In 2022, 16% of American adults said they smoke marijuana. 

But the 17% figure represents a marked increase since 2013, when Gallup first added the question to its annual survey measuring Americans’ consumption habits.

That year, a mere seven percent of American adults identified as marijuana smokers. 

“Age is a significant driver of the likelihood of smoking marijuana. About a quarter of young adults, those aged 18 to 34, say they smoke marijuana (26%), but reported use falls to 18% among adults aged 35 to 54 and is even lower, 11%, among adults aged 55 and older,” Gallup said in its analysis. 

Gallup noted other divides in the responses along gender, education level and party identification. 

“Men (19%) are more likely than women (14%) to use marijuana,” the pollster explained. “College graduates (9%) are about half as likely as those without a college degree (21%) to smoke marijuana. Democrats (22%) are more likely than Republicans (12%) to report smoking marijuana, with independents’ rate (17%) falling between them.”

The survey also included a separate question concerning previous marijuana use. On this, half of American adults––50%––said they have tried cannabis.

“Gallup’s much longer trend on ever having tried marijuana shows that experimentation increased sharply in the first decade after the initial measure. Between 1969 and 1977, it jumped 20 percentage points, from 4% to 24%. It rose another nine points by 1985, to 33%, but thereafter stalled at under 40% until 2015, when it ticked up to 44%. It remained at about that level through 2019 but then rose to 49% in 2021, roughly where it is today,” Gallup said.

Gallup’s polling on Americans’ attitudes toward marijuana has captured a country undergoing a seachange when it comes to drug policy.

In November, Gallup published a poll revealing that seven in 10 Americans believe marijuana use should be legal, which was “the highest level yet after holding steady at 68% for three years.”

Gallup explained that only 12% of Americans supported legalization when it asked about it in 1969. 

But ever since states took the lead and ended pot prohibition nearly 12 years ago, public opinion has shifted dramatically.

“Support cracked the 50% threshold in 2013, jumping 10 percentage points to 58% after Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana,” Gallup said in its analysis. “Support has since increased by another 12 points, paralleling the rise in Americans’ self-reported use of the drug. According to Gallup’s July Consumption Habits survey, the percentage saying they personally smoke marijuana has risen 10 points to 17% since 2013, and the percentage who have ever tried it has increased 12 points to 50%.”

The poll also marked the second consecutive year in which “majority support for legalization is found among all major subgroups, including by age, political party and ideology,” Gallup said.

“Self-identified conservatives were the last major subgroup to express majority support, reaching 51% in 2022. Republicans first gave marijuana majority-level backing in 2017. As of today, support for legal marijuana use is highest among self-identified liberals (91%) and Democrats (87%) and lowest among conservatives (52%) and Republicans (55%). Support is inversely correlated with age, reaching 79% among 18- to 34-year-olds. However, even among the oldest age group, nearly two-thirds (64%) are in favor,” Gallup reported. “There are no significant differences in support by gender, race or education. While most of the regional differences seen this year are also not statistically significant, the lower support for legalization in the East than in the West and Midwest is consistent with the recent trend.”

But another finding released by Gallup around that same time showed that, for the first time, “a majority of U.S. adults, 52%, say the U.S. has lost ground in coping with the illegal drug problem, while a record-low 24% say it has made progress.”

Those findings, per Gallup, “mark a sharp reversal from the prior reading in 2019.”

“At that time, more Americans were optimistic that progress was being made (41%) than believed the U.S. was losing ground (30%) in the effort. For most other recent readings, Americans were divided as to whether things were improving or getting worse,” Gallup said.

“The public was most optimistic about the nation’s coping with illegal drugs in 1999 and 2000, when an average of 47% believed the U.S. was making progress on the issue.”

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According to a recent Gallup poll, there’s a significant change in Americans’ sentiment toward the nation’s handling of the illegal drug problem and its casualties. According to this survey, which has been tracking public opinion since 1972, a majority of U.S. adults, a whopping 52%, now believe that the country is falling behind in its efforts to manage the illegal drug issue, Gallup reports. 

While High Times readers may think, well, of course, the feds are failing; this poll marks the first instance in its history where such a negative majority opinion has been recorded. Before 2019, their polling showed that Americans were optimistic that the country was making progress combating illegal drugs, with the approval stats clocking in at 41%. 

The latest results reveal that only 24% of the participants maintain that the U.S. has made progress in this area, setting a new low in the trend. Additionally, 23% of respondents believe the situation has remained static. 

The central villain in this story is fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, which has caused drug overdose fatalities to spike. According to USAFacts, in 2022, 73,654 people died from a fentanyl overdose in the U.S. This is more than double the amount of deaths from three years prior in 2019. Fentanyl deaths have increased every year for the past decade. 

However, as much as drug enthusiasts would love to blame fentanyl, there are other culprits in play. Gallup reports that since 2019, there has been an escalation in overdose cases associated with other drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamines.

America’s view on handling illegal drugs shows a divide among political parties — and presidents. Republicans do not think that progress is being made. A mere 12% of Republicans responded that they felt we were headed in the right direction, while 75% feel we’re regressing. The Democrats were much more optimistic. 40% answered that they consider the situation improving, compared to 27% who think it’s worsening. Independents clocked in somewhere in the middle, with 22% seeing progress and 52% feeling that the situation is going down the drain.

Gallup reports that voters may be more likely to respond positively based on who is in the White House, which explains why the Democrats were more glass-half-full than the Republicans. And, of course, Republicans are historically more conservative about drug use. Even though some of the liberal’s most loathed figures, such as Matt Gaetz, a U.S. representative from Florida, are joining leftist hero Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, aka AOC, the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district, in the right to help pass pro-psychedelic and cannabis legislation. Most recently, Gaetz proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization to cease cannabis testing for military members. 

Conservative Dan Crenshaw of Texas, a former Navy SEAL, is also pushing for changes to drug policy. In July 2023, Crenshaw and AOC hosted a press conference recognizing progress with a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that directs the Secretary of Defense to conduct a clinical report on psychedelic treatment in military treatment facilities. 

Despite a tendency to feel better about things when your party is president, the Democrats aren’t thrilled with Biden. The same data from Gallup shows that Democrats responded less positively reading the illegal drug situation under Biden than Republicans did under Trump in 2019. 

Biden has been careful to walk the tightrope of acting pro-cannabis legalization without following through. “I believe the president has displayed a regressiveness for cannabis policy,” said AOC in July. “And if there’s a regressiveness toward cannabis policy, it’s likely to be worse on anything else,” she added. 

While both voters and lawmakers are let down by Biden’s failure to reschedule cannabis, according to the Gallup poll, 74% of U.S. adults see the government’s failure to address casualties from illegal drugs as “extremely or very serious.” This is up from 64% in 2021. The highest concern was recorded in 2000, when the question was first asked, clocking in at 83%. 

Interestingly, while Americans are upset with the national handling of illicit drugs, they voice less concern in their local areas. 35% rate it as extremely serious (19%) or very serious (16%). This figure is almost equivalent to the record 34% in 2000. 

In light of the terrifying increase in overdose deaths from fentanyl and other opioids, in addition to deaths from substances such as cocaine, the American public has never been more pessimistic regarding the government’s handling of illegal drugs, even if they don’t carry that same concern in their hometowns, where it may be harder to criticize. 

Perhaps most importantly, this data shows that drug policy will shape the upcoming 2024 presidential election in numerous ways. To start, there is pressure to decriminalize cannabis on a federal level. A new Gallup poll published on November 8 showed that an estimated 68% of Americans, or seven out of every ten individuals, said “yes” to the poll questions, “Do you think the use of marijuana should be legal, or not?,” as High Times reports. And now, additionally, as this latest poll shows, voters also want a leader who can stop the deadly drugs from taking any more American lives. If AOC is right about Biden, and he isn’t cut out for the task, voters must consider that Trump could once again find his way into the White House. 

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A new Gallup poll published on November 8 showed that opinions on legalization are at an all-time high in the U.S. An estimated 68% of Americans, or seven out of every 10 individuals, said “yes” to the poll questions, “Do you think the use of marijuana should be legal, or not?” Only 29% believe that cannabis should not be legal, and 1% said they were unsure.

Gallup began asking Americans about cannabis legalization back in 1969, when only 12% of Americans supported the idea. Pro-cannabis opinions reached a milestone with 58% in favor of legalization back in 2013, which was shortly after Colorado and Washington State legalized cannabis. In 2014, the favor percentage decreased slightly to 51%, and then steadily increased back to 59% in 2015, followed by 60% in 2016, 64% in 2017, 66% in 2018, 64% in 2019, 68% in 2020, 2021, and 2022, and finally jumping to 70% in 2023.

Gallup surveyed 1,009 participants between Oct. 2-23, 2023 and noted that in regard to ideologies, a majority of people support cannabis legalization, including 91% self-identified liberals, 73% moderates, and 52% conservatives. As far as political parties go, 87% of Democrats, 70% of independents, and 55% of Republicans support legalization.

Increased support is still seen in younger ages as well, with 79% of 18- to 34-year-olds in support, with 71% of 31- to 35-year-olds, and 64% with people over 55.

Among men and women genders, 72% of men and 68% of women support legalization. The race/ethnicity categories were also only split into two representations: 1. People of color, and 2. Non-Hispanic white adults. The former showed 72% support for legalization, while the latter reflected 69%.

Among participants, those who have attended “some college” represented the highest percentage of support for legalization at 73%, followed by an equal number of people who either had no college education or a postgraduate degree at 70%, and “college graduates only” at 66%.

“There are no significant differences in support by gender, race or education,” the poll stated. “While most of the regional differences seen this year are also not statistically significant, the lower support for legalization in the East than in the West and Midwest is consistent with the recent trend.”

Gallup authors stated that cannabis is more popular and mainstream than ever. “The nation has reached a broad consensus on legalizing marijuana, with a full seven in 10 now supportive,” the poll stated in its conclusion. “Not only do most U.S. adults favor it, but so do majorities of all major political and ideological subgroups.”

Authors added that even though opposition remains, it does appear to be powerful enough to sway the public’s opinion on cannabis. “Although some health organizations and political commentators have raised concerns about the medical risks of marijuana, this hasn’t blunted the public’s desire for legalization thus far,” Gallup wrote. “For now, the high level of support among younger adults suggests national backing will only expand in the years ahead, likely resulting in more states, and perhaps the federal government, moving to legalize it.”

In August, Gallup released the results of another poll, called the Gallup Consumption Habits survey, which was conducted between July 3-27 and found that 50% of Americans have “have tried cannabis.”

Additionally, participants were asked if they “smoke” cannabis, to which only 17% replied yes. This particular question has only been asked since 2013, and answers began at just 7%, followed by 11% in 2015, 13% in 2016, 12% in 2017, 12% in 2019 and 2021, and 16% in 2022. 

“While essentially unchanged from the 49% and 48% readings in 2021 and 2022, respectively, the new figure is statistically higher than the 45% in 2017 and 2019 who said they had tried marijuana,” Gallup authors wrote. “In answer to a separate question intended to measure current behavior, about one in six Americans (17%) say they ‘smoke marijuana.’ This is also a new high in Gallup’s trend since 2003, albeit similar to the 16% recorded a year ago.”

One of the more significant differences in opinion with that poll lies in the political parties, where 57% of Democrats and 52% of independents said they have smoked cannabis, but only 39% Republicans said they have previously smoked. The first time Gallup asked this question was in 2013, to which only 7% of Americans said that they have smoked cannabis.

Other cannabis-focused surveys also reflect the growth in positive cannabis opinions. In late October, the results from a survey conducted by cannabis wellness company EO Care showed that 18% of participants have used cannabis for health reasons within the past year, 19% consume cannabis recreationally, and 14% use it for both medical and recreational purposes.

Another study published in the medical journal Psychedelic Medicine showed a significant increase in acceptance for psychedelics. “Our data reveal a striking positive shift in attitudes toward the therapeutic potential of hallucinogens among American psychiatrists since 2016, with a majority of responding psychiatrists planning to incorporate hallucinogen-assisted therapy into their practice if regulatory approval is granted,” researchers wrote.

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Spanning across 35 subgroups divided by ideology, religiosity, and age, the majority of nearly every demographic supported legal cannabis in the U.S. with just two exceptions: Older conservatives ages 50+, and “people who attend church weekly.”

Gallup recently released a poll with the latest data conducted on Oct. 3 to 20. Study results are based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,009 adults living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The list includes people from all walks of life, male and female, Democrat and Republican. Per usual, landline and cell phone telephone numbers were selected using random digit dial methods.

And using this and combined data gathered over the past five years—2018 through 2022—they released a stronger aggregated analysis of demographic differences in views about pot legalization, which they say is better than providing data from one poll alone.

Holding steady for the past two years, a record-high 68% of Americans across the board said they support legal pot. That number remained unchanged since the poll was conducted in 2020 and 2021.

Gallup Results Across Ideologies

People with no religious preference topped the list at 89%, liberals closed in second at 84%, Democrats at 81%, young adults close behind at 79%, and those who seldom or never attend religious services next at 78%.

The only subgroups that did not favor legal pot by majority are those who attend church weekly at 46% and conservatives at 49%—however younger conservatives ages 18 to 49 favored pot legalization slightly. Baby boomer conservatives, however, are a different story.

“Americans have grown much more supportive of legalizing marijuana over the past two decades, but support appears to be leveling off for now, not showing any change in the past three years,” wrote Jeffrey M. Jones in the poll report.

Protestants and Catholics showed equal support for legal pot at 60% each. It appears that college education changes attitudes to be more positive about cannabis: graduates supported legal pot more than non-graduates, with 69% and 66%, respectively. Stay in school, folks.

“While majorities of most major subgroups are in favor of legalizing marijuana, there are a few holdouts—-namely, political conservatives and regular churchgoers,” he continued. “Small segments of the population (in particular, older conservatives) are still disinclined to think marijuana use should be legal. However, younger conservatives and younger moderates are more inclined than their older counterparts to think cannabis should be legal. As such, in future decades support for legalizing marijuana can be expected to continue to grow as newer, likely more pro-marijuana, generations replace older generations in the U.S. population.”

Suburban residents supported legal pot the most at 72%, more than city residents (67%) and rural residents (60%). Men were also slightly more supportive of legal pot (70%) than women (65%).

The Growing Support of Legal Pot

In 1969, the first time Gallup conducted this poll, only 12% of Americans said cannabis should be legal. That number has gone up steadily, stalling briefly amid the “Just Say No” fever movement of the ‘80s, but climbing to 68% where it stands today. 

The polls show the normalization of cannabis use in America, which is light years away from prior generations.

Time is ticking for the generations that do not support legal pot, which shrinks consistently each year. Younger conservatives—who now support legal pot—are replacing their older counterparts and pretty soon, the ballot boxes.

Download the PDF of a complete list of Gallup’s poll responses here.

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More Americans are smoking marijuana than cigarettes, according to a new survey, marking a milestone shift in consumer habits in the United States.

The data, compiled as part of Gallup’s annual “Consumption Survey” and released last week, showed that only 11% of Americans reported themselves as cigarette smokers––a new low since the pollster first started asking the question in the 1940s.

Conversely, around 16% of Americans identified as current cannabis smokers, according to Gallup.

For the first time, the pollster asked Americans if they are current users of cannabis edibles, with 14% reporting that they are.

The findings were foreshadowed by the previous decade, when dozens of states and cities ended the prohibition on pot and Americans turned away en masse from tobacco––often in favor of smokeless nicotine vapes that may or may not be safer.

In 2019, Gallup’s “Consumption Poll” found that only 15% of Americans reported as cigarette smokers, at the time a new low and substantially lower than the 45% of U.S. adults who said they were back in the 1940s. That poll showed that 12% of Americans reported as marijuana smokers.

“Smoking cigarettes is clearly on the decline and is most likely to become even more of a rarity in the years ahead. This reflects both public awareness of its negative effects and continuing government efforts at all levels to curtail its use. Smoking remains legal in general but is prohibited in many public places, offices, modes of transportation and in private places across the U.S. Each pack of cigarettes carries draconian warning messages about their harmful effects,” Gallup’s Frank Newport wrote in his analysis of the latest survey.

Cannabis has perhaps never been more accessible in the U.S. and pot smokers never more ubiquitous––despite the ongoing federal prohibition.

“Despite its widespread use, alcohol’s downsides have been recognized in the U.S. for centuries. This awareness reached a climax over a hundred years ago, when the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — passed by Congress and ratified by 46 of the 48 states — banned the manufacture, transportation and sale of alcohol. While the resulting Prohibition may have actually lowered the consumption of alcohol as intended, it had numerous other unanticipated negative consequences and was repealed some 13 years after it took effect,” Newport wrote.

Gallup released findings last year that found a new high of 68% of Americans believe that marijuana should be legal.

But as far as its effects, the country is split.

In the latest “Consumption Poll,” 53% said that marijuana has a positive effect on its users, while 45% said it has a negative effect.

But when it comes to marijuana’s effect on society, 49% said it is positive, while 50% said it is negative.

Gallup’s latest survey found that alcohol remains far more prevalent than either marijuana or cigarettes. About 45% said they had an alcoholic drink in the last week, while 23% said they have one occasionally. A third identified as complete abstainers.

“The future of alcohol drinking presents the most fascinating sociological case study out of the three substances. Alcohol use has been remarkably steady over the past 80 years (the time during which Gallup has measured it). In fact, alcohol has been widely used in the U.S. since the nation’s founding. Its use continues to be intertwined with many aspects of American culture, including social and — in some instances — religious rituals. Alcohol is also a major contributor to the nation’s economy. If the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, then the best guess would be to predict no significant change in alcohol use going forward,” Newport wrote.

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Ever heard the old adage, “don’t knock it ‘til you try it’? Gallup’s latest polling data seems to support that concept, showing that 70% of American adults—the ones who have actually tried it—think its effects on users are positive.

These results were collected July 5-26 from Gallup’s Consumption survey, conducted annually during the month of July.

A large majority, or 70% of Americans who have ever tried cannabis think pot’s effects on users are “very” or “somewhat positive,” and 66% think pot’s effect on society is “very” or “somewhat positive.”

But on the other hand, a similarly large majority of people who have never tried cannabis think its effects are negative, with 72% saying its effect on society is “very” or “somewhat negative” and 62% saying its effects on users are “very” or “somewhat negative.”

In other words, one might assume that some people dislike cannabis until they try it for themselves, or see the miraculous healing powers of the plant first-hand, with their own two eyes.

“This survey data indicates that personal experience with cannabis is a relatively surefire cure for ‘reefer madness,’” NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “As greater percentages of adults continue to become familiar with marijuana for either therapeutic purposes or for their own personal use, expect to see many of the more sensational yet specious claims that once dominated the cannabis narrative be regulated to the dustbin of history.”

While about half of Americans have tried pot at some point—48%—just 16% say they are currently smoking it.

America’s Overall View

Americans are split down the middle over pot’s effect on society with 49% considering it positive and 50% considering it negative. Slightly more support for pot’s effect on users was found, with 53% saying it’s positive and 45% negative.

Armentano is “not particularly” surprised American adults remain divided about their views on cannabis.

“We’ve known for some time that there is a percentage of Americans who believe that marijuana ought to be legalized and regulated,” Armentano tells High Times. “Because criminalizing it is a policy that has not worked, and that comes with very high costs. And I think that is reflected in the fact that Gallup finds a supermajority of Americans think marijuana ought to be legal, yet, America’s fairly evenly divided on whether or not marijuana use per se is beneficial. You have a percentage of the public that may not necessarily like cannabis, but they dislike prohibiting cannabis even more.”

Americans, however, appear to recognize the harms of alcohol and see cannabis far more positively than they do alcohol. An earlier Gallup released last month shows that three in four adults in America believe alcohol negatively affects society, and 71% said they believe it is harmful to drinkers.

When Gallup began surveying Americans about cannabis in 1969—only 4% said they thought it should be legal. Through the decades that number has climbed slowly but steadily to reflect the rapidly changing attitudes in the country. According to Gallup’s most recent survey, 68% of U.S. adults, tied for the record high, think pot should be legal.

Witnessing the Benefits of Cannabis

The second-best thing to first-hand experience is the power of social media and how it’s showing the world that cannabis has fewer harms than alcohol and most of all, that it can help heal.

These types of videos might help convert opponents of cannabis reform or the undecided.

An example of this would be viral videos on social media showing the healing powers of THC or CBD. Facebook user Pete Starostecki was a cross-state cannabis refugee, and posted a viral video of CBD oil stopping seizures in real time with his son. Professional British Boxer Anthony Fowler, for instance, posted a video of a dog having a seizure and how fast CBD oil stopped the dog from shaking.

The further influence of cannabis in the media helps to normalize hard-working, functional Americans who choose to consume cannabis responsibly, as evident in the rising numbers in successive Gallup polls.

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Stop us if you have heard this before: a record high number of Americans think pot should be legal.

That is the chief takeaway from the latest survey released Thursday by Gallup, which found that more than two-thirds of adults in the United States—or 68 percent—support the legalization of marijuana.

The major pollster said that it has “documented increasing support for legalizing marijuana over more than five decades, with particularly sharp increases occurring in the 2000s and 2010s.” 

The majority support for legalization has been captured by Gallup since 2013, when more than 50 percent of Americans said they supported the policy for the first time.

The latest findings match Gallup’s poll from last year, which also found that 68 percent of American adults supported legalizing marijuana.

The 2020 poll, Gallup noted at the time, showed that “more likely now than at any point in the past five decades to support the legalization of marijuana in the U.S.”

Like last year’s poll, the latest survey found “solid majorities of U.S. adults in all major subgroups by gender, age, income and education support legalizing marijuana.”

“Substantive differences are seen, however, by political party and religion,” Gallup explained. “While most Democrats (83%) and political independents (71%) support legalization, Republicans are nearly evenly split on the question (50% in favor; 49% opposed). Weekly and semiregular attendees of religious services are split on the issue as well, while those who attend infrequently or never are broadly supportive of legalizing marijuana.”

The poll findings dovetail with what has been a flowering of legalization nationwide over the last decade, as changing attitudes have helped usher in marijuana reform.

More than a dozen states have now moved to legalize recreational pot use for adults, with voters in both liberal and conservative strongholds embracing the reform. Last year, voters in four states—New Jersey, Arizona, Montana and South Dakota—passed ballot measures that legalized marijuana for recreational use.

As is often the case, the polling has clearly been an impetus for the policy.

Gallup Survey Matches Findings from Other Recent Polls

A poll released earlier this year from Quinnipiac University yielded similar findings to Gallup’s latest survey. 

The Quinnipiac poll found about 70 percent of Americans in favor of legalizing marijuana, which was the highest number ever recorded in a national survey.

And while the legalization measures have thus far been implemented on the state and municipal level, there are mounting signs that the federal government may be ready to follow suit.

Earlier this year, Democrats in Congress introduced the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act of 2021, or “The MORE Act of 2021,” which would “decriminalize and deschedule cannabis…provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs…provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.”

In the spring, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York stressed that Democrats are ready to move forward with legalization, citing the success of legalization on the state level.

“In 2018, I was the first member of the Democratic leadership to come out in support of ending the federal prohibition. I’m sure you ask, ‘Well what changed?’ Well, my thinking evolved. When a few of the early states—Oregon and Colorado—wanted to legalize, all the opponents talked about the parade of horribles: Crime would go up. Drug use would go up. Everything bad would happen,” Schumer said at the time. “The legalization of states worked out remarkably well. They were a great success. The parade of horribles never came about, and people got more freedom. And people in those states seem very happy.”

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Gallup data shows that almost half of US adults have tried cannabis. 

Almost half of adults in the United States said they have tried marijuana, according to the results of a new Gallup Poll released on Tuesday. At 49 percent, the figure is the highest that Gallup has recorded in its more than 50 years of asking Americans about their cannabis use. 

When Gallup first began surveying Americans about cannabis in 1969, only four percent of adults said that they had tried marijuana. Since that time the rate has increased steadily, rising to more than 20 percent in the 1977 survey. Roughly a third of adults surveyed in 1985 said that they had tried cannabis, and by 2015 the percentage had surpassed 40 percent. Gallup noted that much of the increase in marijuana experimentation reported over the last 50 years can be explained by generational patterns in the United States.

“The oldest Americans living today, those born before 1945 whom Gallup calls ‘traditionalists,’ are much less likely than those in other birth cohorts to have tried marijuana, with just 19% saying they have done so. That compares with about half of millennials (51%), Generation Xers (49%, and baby boomers (50%),” the polling organization wrote in its report on the survey.

The generational data on marijuana use trends was taken from Gallup’s annual Consumption Habits surveys from 2015 to 2021. Gallup noted that it does not yet have enough information on the trends of Generation Z, the oldest of whom are only 24 years old now. This year’s Consumption Habits poll was conducted from July 6 to 21.

Only 12 percent of those surveyed said that they “smoked marijuana,” a percentage that has held steady since 2017. In 2013, the first year Gallup asked if respondents smoked marijuana, only seven percent replied in the affirmative. The figure rose steadily to 11 percent by 2015 before peaking at 13 percent in 2016. Gallup did not ask the poll’s respondents if they consumed marijuana in any way other than smoking.

Gallup Data: Marijuana Use Higher Among Younger Americans

While the percentage of those who said they have tried marijuana varies little among baby boomers and subsequent generations, Gallup noted that younger Americans are more likely to say that they currently smoke marijuana. The combined data from 2015 to 2021 show that about 20 percent of millenials smoke marijuana. For Gen Xers the figure is 11 percent, while nine percent of baby boomers and only one percent of traditionalists say they currently smoke pot.

In addition to differences by age, the survey revealed that the rate of marijuana use varied among other demographic groups including gender, education, and political orientation. While 16 percent of men said that they smoked marijuana, only nine percent of women said the same. Only five percent with a postgraduate education said that they smoked cannabis, compared to 14 percent of those with a four-year college degree or less education. And those who are politically liberal (22 percent) and Democrats (15 percent) were more likely than conservatives (six percent) and Republicans (seven percent) to say they currently smoked marijuana.

In its analysis of the generational patterns revealed by the survey, Gallup noted that the percentage of Americans who say they have tried cannabis might not rise much higher than 50 percent, despite the upward trend that has been recorded to date.

“The percentage of Americans who have tried marijuana has steadily climbed in recent decades,” Gallup wrote. “Soon it should reach 50 percent, but it may not get much higher than that given the rates of experimentation have been steady around 50 percent in Gen Xers and among baby boomers. Half of millennials have also tried marijuana, and with many in that group approaching middle age, that proportion seems unlikely to increase in future years.”

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