In 2024, nearly ** percent of the population of the United States used cannabis within the past year. The graph shows the percentage of the population in the U.S. who consumed cannabis in the past year from 2002 to 2024.

Current marijuana use among U.S. adults in 2023 was highest in Vermont, where around 26.67 percent of adults reported using marijuana within the past year. In recent years, a number of U.S. states, including Colorado and California, have legalized the sale of marijuana for recreational use. In 2023, around 133 million people in the United States reported that they had used marijuana at least once in their lifetime. Consumer behavior Starting around 2013, the majority of U.S. adults now say they are in favor of legalizing marijuana in the United States. The share of adults who were in favor of legalization has continued to increase over the years. As of 2021, about 68 percent of U.S. adults aged 18 and older were in favor of legalization. Legal sales of marijuana reached 16.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, and are expected to increase to around 37 billion dollars by the year 2026. COVID-19 impact on marijuana use The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns led to fears of an increase in substance abuse in many parts of the world. In March 2020, around 40 percent of millennials who used cannabis in the past year reported that they planned to increase their marijuana use during the COVID-19 pandemic. This rise in usage was reflected in sales early in the pandemic. In California for example, sales of marijuana on March 16, 2020 increased 159 percent compared to the same day in 2019.

In 2024, approximately 64.1 million people used marijuana in the past year. This statistic shows the number of people in the U.S. who have used marijuana in the past year from 2009 to 2024.

Total consumption of adult use cannabis in the United States reached *** thousand kilograms in 2020. Consumption volume is expected to increase to over ************* kilograms by 2025.

During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, approximately **** percent of surveyed cannabis consumers in the United States reported that they smoke weed once or twice a week, while around **** percent reported smoking about * grams or more every day.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Eighteen to twenty-nine-year-olds were the largest group of current marijuana smokers in the United States in 2019. Roughly a quarter of the age group were current smokers, with usage dipping among older age groups. Seniors were the least likely, with only three percent stating that they were current smokers.

Support for legalization

Although cannabis is still federally illegal, it has been legalized for recreational consumption in 10 states since 2012. Nationwide support for the federal legalization of cannabis has grown every year, with 18 to 34-year-olds being the biggest supporters. Seventy-eight-percent of Americans in that age group supported marijuana legalization in 2018, nearly double the level of support in 2003. Approval of legalization is more than 50 percent among all age groups.

Approval for medical use

Support for the medical usage of cannabis is even higher, and unlike recreational usage, approval levels are very close among all age groups. The average degree of support among all age groups was seventy-four percent. In contrast to the young age of most recreational smokers, in Oregon, one of the first state to legalize recreational cannabis, the highest share of people registered as medical marijuana patients were 55 to 69 years old.

According to a survey conducted in 2020, around ** percent of Millennials in the United States reported consuming marijuana for recreational purposes, versus only ** percent of Baby Boomers.

The statistic shows the results of a survey on the frequency of cannabis consumption in the United States in 2018, by product type. In 2018, ** percent of the respondents consumed cannabis in flower products at least once in a week or more in the United States..

In 2018, ** percent of consumers who purchased CBD products consumed cannabis at least daily in the United States, whereas ** percent of all cannabis consumers consumed cannabis at the same rate. Fifteen and ** percent of consumers who purchased CBD and all cannabis consumers, respectively, consumed cannabis a few times a year.

According to a survey conducted in April 2020, approximately ***** percent of surveyed cannabis users in the United States reported increased marijuana consumption since the coronavirus outbreak. In contrast, only *** percent of respondents reported quitting cannabis smoking since the pandemic began.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

This statistic represents the frequency of marijuana consumption in the United States as of January 2017. During the survey period, it was found that approximately ** percent of cannabis users, consumed it on a daily basis.

This statistic shows the share of cannabis consumers among those actively working in the cannabis industry in the United States in 2017. According to the survey, ** percent of people working in the cannabis industry also consume cannabis.

A July 2017 survey of U.S. adults found that approximately 13 percent of American men and seven percent of American women currently smoke marijuana.

Impact of Legalizing Cannabis in the U.S.

Since Washington and Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, several more states have followed suit. The tax revenue for medical and recreational cannabis in the United States amounted to 610 million U.S. dollars in 2017 and is expected to reach 1.8 billion U.S. dollars by 2020. The increase in marijuana production and retail also has the potential to create over 283 thousand jobs in the United States by 2020.

Marijuana Consumption Methods

Since legalization, there has been an explosion in the variety of marijuana consumption methods available. Though most marijuana consumers still seem to prefer flowers, or raw plant matter, 15.5 percent of the market is attributed to sales of edible cannabis products. In Colorado, volume sales of adult use marijuana-infused edibles were considerably higher during the summer months, at 918 thousand units in July 2017 alone.

Consumers aged 35 to 54 years old in the United States had the greatest share of respondents who had indicated that they had replaced some of their alcohol consumption with cannabis use in 2020. Consumers aged 55 years and older were the least likely to have replaced alcohol with cannabis.

The statistic presents the likely reasons for cannabis consumption if it were legal in the United States in 2019. In 2019, ** percent of the respondents stated that they were likely to use cannabis for treatment of chronic pain, if it were legally available in the United States.

Israel had the highest prevalence of cannabis use worldwide in 2020. Approximately ** percent of the adult population had consumed cannabis during that year. This is significantly more than in any other country. In the United States (U.S.), the prevalence of cannabis use is about ** percent. Cannabis around the world In Europe, Czechia had the highest prevalence of cannabis use among adults, with **** percent of their adult population consuming cannabis. However, while many Europeans consume cannabis, only a very small share of the legal cannabis sales worldwide are generated in Europe. North America has by far the largest share of legal cannabis sales, accounting for nearly the entire market. Nonetheless, unlike in Canada, where cannabis has been fully legalized, the drug remains illegal at the federal level in the U.S. and is only legalized in certain states. The legal status of cannabis in the United States One of the U.S. states that legalized cannabis is California. The state of California, which is the most populous state in the U.S., now collects almost *********** U.S. dollars from taxes generated by the sales of recreational marijuana. This is more than ***** as much as any other state collects. The support for legalizing marijuana among the adult U.S. population has changed significantly during the last half a century. While approximately ** percent supported legalization in 1969, it is now more than ********** of the population. Cannabis is particularly popular among college students in the United States. The percentage of U.S. college students that used cannabis regularly, that is monthly or more frequently, was almost ** percent in 2021.

The legal cannabis market has had explosive growth since several states in the United States legalized recreational consumption. With Canada legalizing recreational consumption nationwide and the growing popularity of the plant in the United States, the global legal cannabis market is set to reach over ** billion dollars in value by 2024. The legal landscape Since 1970’s passage of the Controlled Substances Act, cannabis has been outlawed as a Schedule I drug (the most restrictive of drug categories) in the United States. Despite legalization on a state level, cannabis is still federally illegal to possess, manufacture and sell. In 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first two states to legalize recreational use of cannabis. Today, recreational cannabis use is legal in 10 states and medical use is legal in 33. Where the market is California had the most sales of legal cannabis in the United States in 2018. ************** billion dollars were spent on cannabis in the state. Colorado’s more mature market brought in *** billion. By 2025, California is forecast to be responsible for **** percent of the entire U.S. legal market. The black market is still strong, even in legal states. In California in particular, where the price of a legal gram of marijuana is often substantially higher than black market prices, the total legal and illicit market was roughly *** billion dollars.

This statistic presents the results of a survey conducted in the United States in January 2017. U.S. adults were asked about the main reasons for the consumption of cannabis. It was found that approximately ** percent of respondents answered they consume cannabis for relaxation.

This statistic presents the results of a survey conducted in the United States in January 2017. U.S. adults were asked about the main reasons for the consumption of cannabis, broken down by gender. It was found that ** percent of the responding women answered they consume cannabis to reduce anxiety.