Meanwhile, the kids are saying “no thanks” to cannabis more often these days. The report shows that marijuana use among minors—those aged 12 to 20—has taken a slight dip.
Even with some changes to how data is collected, making comparisons over time a bit tricky, it’s clear that youth cannabis use has taken a noticeable nosedive over the last decade. Since the first legal recreational cannabis sale in the U.S. back in 2014, the percentage of young people aged 12 to 17 who’ve ever tried marijuana has dropped a solid 18 percent. And those who dabble with it monthly or yearly? Their numbers have also slid downhill.
For adults, though, weed is still the main event in the world of illicit drugs, according to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), released on Tuesday. Over 1 in 5 Americans (21.8 percent) reported puffing, passing, or otherwise partaking in cannabis in the last year. That’s pretty much unchanged from 2022’s 22.0 percent. Just to put it in perspective, that’s almost the same number of people who admit to binge drinking in the past month (21.7 percent).
Zooming in on the underage crowd—those aged 12 to 20—18.4 percent said they used marijuana at least once in 2023, a slight drop from 19.2 percent the year before. As for those who had a little monthly toke, 11.3 percent of minors fessed up to using marijuana in the past month. To compare, 14.6 percent of the same age group said they had a drink in the last month.
Looking at the bigger picture, about 1 in 4 Americans (24.9 percent) admitted to using some sort of illicit drug—be it marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, or prescription drugs used for anything but their intended purpose—in the past year. That’s the same percentage as in 2022, so no major shakeups there. The percentage of people dabbling in illicit drugs other than marijuana? That also held steady at 8.8 percent from 2022 to 2023.
Photo by Ilo Frey
