Marijuana Trends

Recent marijuana trends from the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) shows that marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug. In 2009, there were 16.7 million past month users. Among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of past month marijuana use and the number of users in 2009 (6.6 percent or 16.7 million) were higher than in 2008 (6.1 percent or 15.2 million) and in 2007 (5.8 percent or 14.4 million). The rate of current marijuana use among youths aged 12 to 17 decreased from 8.2 percent in 2002 to 6.7 percent in 2006, remained unchanged at 6.7 percent in 2007 and 2008, then increased to 7.3 percent in 2009. Additionally, between 2008 and 2009 the rate of current use of illicit drugs among young adults aged 18 to 25 increased from 19.6 to 21.2 percent, driven largely by an increase in marijuana use (from 16.5 to 18.1 percent).

In 2009, an estimated 3.1 million persons aged 12 or older used an illicit drug for the first time within the past 12 months. This averages to about 8,500 initiates per day and is similar to the estimate for 2008 (2.9 million). A majority of these past year illicit drug initiates reported that their first drug was marijuana (59.1 percent). Nearly one third initiated with psychotherapeutics (28.6 percent, including 17.1 percent with pain relievers, 8.6 percent with tranquilizers, 2.0 percent with stimulants, and 1.0 percent with sedatives). A sizable proportion reported inhalants (9.8 percent) as their first illicit drug, and a small proportion used hallucinogens as their first drug (2.1 percent).

Marijuana trends illustrate that in 2009, the average age of marijuana initiates among persons aged 12 to 49 was 17.0 years, significantly lower than the average age of marijuana initiates in 2008 (17.8 years), but similar to that in 2002 (17.0 years). A majority of youths aged 12 to 17 (90.5 percent) in 2009 reported that their parents would strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana or hashish once or twice. Current marijuana use was much less prevalent among youths who perceived strong parental disapproval for trying marijuana or hashish once or twice than for those who did not (4.8 vs. 31.3 percent).

The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) notes that the specific illicit drugs that had the highest levels of past year dependence or abuse in 2009 were marijuana (4.3 million), pain relievers (1.9 million), and cocaine (1.1 million). The number of persons with marijuana dependence or abuse has not changed since 2002, but the number with pain reliever dependence or abuse has increased (from 1.5 million to 1.9 million) and the number with cocaine dependence or abuse has declined (from 1.5 million to 1.1 million).

In 2009, marijuana was used by 76.6 percent of current illicit drug users and was the only drug used by 58.0 percent of them. Illicit drugs other than marijuana were used by 9.2 million persons or 42.0 percent of illicit drug users aged 12 or older. Current use of other drugs but not marijuana was reported by 23.4 percent of illicit drug users, and 18.6 percent used both marijuana and other drugs.

Marijuana trends from 2009 report that among persons aged 12 or older, the rate of past month marijuana use and the number of users in 2009 (6.6 percent or 16.7 million) were higher than in 2008 (6.1 percent or 15.2 million) and in 2007 (5.8 percent or 14.4 million). In 2009, there were 2.4 million persons aged 12 or older who had used marijuana for the first time within the past 12 months; this averages to about 6,500 initiates per day. This estimate was about the same as the estimate in 2008 (2.2 million) and 2002 (2.2 million), but higher than the estimate in 2007 (2.1 million).

Most (62.5 percent) of the 2.4 million recent marijuana initiates were younger than age 18 when they first used. Among youths aged 12 to 17, an estimated 5.4 percent had used marijuana for the first time within the past year, similar to the rate in 2008 (5.0 percent). In 2009, among persons aged 12 or older, there were an estimated 1.5 million first-time past year marijuana users who initiated prior to the age of 18. This estimate was not significantly different from the corresponding estimate in 2008 (1.4 million), but higher than the estimate in 2007 (1.3 million).

As a percentage of those aged 12 to 17 who had not used marijuana prior to the past year, the youth marijuana initiation rate in 2009 (6.1 percent) was similar to the rate in 2008 (5.6 percent) but higher than the rate in 2007 (5.2 percent). In 2009, marijuana trends show the average age at first marijuana use among recent initiates aged 12 to 49 was 17.0 years, which was lower than the average in 2008 (17.8 years). However, the average age at first marijuana use was similar to the age in 2002, when it was 17.0 years. Among recent initiates aged 12 or older who initiated use prior to the age of 21, the mean age at first use was 16.3 years in 2009, which was significantly higher than the estimate (16.1 years) in 2008.