Culture
Americans May Soon Be Smoking More Weed Than Cigarettes
Aug
A new poll suggests that the rate of cannabis use in the US almost matches the rate of cigarette smoking. The rate of vaping has remained consistent over the past year.
The Gallup poll, published Thursday, found that 12 percent of adults surveyed said they consumed marijuana within the past week. That’s nearly the same rate as cigarette smoking, which came in at 15 percent of those surveyed. Roughly 8 percent of respondents said they vaped in the past week.
Trends have shifted since 2013, according to Gallup’s data. Back then, just 7 percent of adults admitted to recently smoking weed. Since 2015, the range has fluctuated between 11 to 13 percent, so the latest figures are consistent with the past few years’ results.
Cigarette smoking, on the other hand, has steadily declined for the past 75 years — with 45 percent of adults saying they smoked tobacco in 1955 as opposed to just 15 percent saying the same today.
Gallup’s poll also claimed that a quarter of all US adults smoke something, whether it’s tobacco, weed, or vape juice. Respondents who regularly engage in all three — tobacco and weed smoking, along with vaping — made up the smallest minority: just 1 percent.
Last year, a separate survey in the Annals of Internal Medicinediscovered that almost 15 percent of respondents said they’d tried cannabis within the past year.
A 2009 survey from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said that the top three states for marijuana consumption were Colorado, Vermont, and Alaska at 15, 16, and 16.2 percent of adults regularly consuming in those states, respectively.
The Gallup poll did not ask respondents about alcohol use, though some data indicates that alcohol use decreases in states with legal cannabis.
Read more from the source: MerryJane.com