Marijuana Addiction: Rates & Usage Statistics

This webpage features the most noteworthy marijuana statistics in the United States.

Key Findings

61.5M
61,500,000, or 23.4% of American adults used marijuana in 2024.
51%
133,692,000, or 51.0% of American adults have tried marijuana at least once.
26%
25.7% of 12th-graders used marijuana at least once in 2025.

Related reports include Drug Abuse Statistics | Alcohol Abuse Statistics | Average Cost of Drug Rehab | Drug Overdose Death Statistics | Teenage Drug Use Statistics | Fentanyl Abuse Statistics | Opioid Crisis Statistics | Prescription Drug Abuse Statistics

General Statistics

Marijuana refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant. The plant contains the mind-altering chemical THC and other similar compounds. Marijuana is, by far, the most popular drug in America and arguably the most popular drug in the world.

  • More than 137 million Americans over the age of 12, or nearly half of the population, have used marijuana at some point in their lives.
  • In 2024, an estimated 44.3 million Americans used marijuana each month.
  • 64.2 million Americans reported using marijuana within the past year.
  • In 2024, the percentage of Americans who used marijuana exceeded the percentage who used tobacco products by 5.2%
  • Marijuana use has surged over the past decade, rising an estimated 65.2% between 2015 and 2024.
  • Overall illicit drug use has increased by 54.1% between 2015 and 2024.
  • Rates of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) involving marijuana were 3.7 times higher in 2024 than in 2015.

Marijuana Addiction: Rates & Usage Statistics - marijuana addiction

Popularity of Marijuana

The rising popularity of marijuana can be attributed to its growing acceptability and expanding legalization in modern society. Marijuana is widely accepted as being “less risky” than other substances like tobacco, alcohol, or painkillers. Marijuana is often perceived as “less harmful” because the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reports no documented cases of fatal overdoses attributed solely to marijuana.

  • 64% of Americans say that regular alcohol use is more of a health risk than the regular use of marijuana.
  • 63% of the population believe tobacco is more harmful than marijuana.
  • 53% believe the use of marijuana does not lead to the use of hard drugs.
  • Recent polls indicate that about 76% of Americans believe marijuana can help treat certain health conditions.
  • However, chronic marijuana users may develop a mental dependency, which can be categorized as a cannabis use disorder
  • An estimated 30% of cannabis users have cannabis use disorder.

Marijuana Use Among Youth

Statistics related to marijuana use among the nation’s youth are some of the most noteworthy and particularly concerning. Among all grades, disapproval of marijuana and perceptions of harm continue to decrease. Nearly 4,200 individuals ages 12-20 try marijuana for the first time every day, highlighting its widespread exposure among youth. As marijuana becomes more popular at younger ages, new risks are emerging, including concerns that early marijuana use may lead to a future of substance abuse.

  • 34.8% of high school seniors have reported trying marijuana.
  • 31.4% of first-time marijuana users in the past year were between the ages of 12 and 17.
  • Nearly 5% of adolescents report first using marijuana before the age of 13.
  • According to the latest Monitoring the Future survey, lifetime marijuana use among 12th grade students has decreased by 20.4% over the past five years.
  • Among 12th graders, 5.6% continue to report daily use, which corresponds to about 1 in 20 high school seniors.
  • High school seniors perceive marijuana vaping as more harmful than regular marijuana use, with 46% reporting great risk from marijuana vaping versus 36% for regular use.
  • Compared with 12th graders, 8th graders are 111.8% more likely and 10th graders 70.6% more likely to perceive occasional marijuana use as dangerous.
  • Between 2000 and 2024, the share of high school seniors who view regular marijuana use as dangerous has declined from 58% to 36%.

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The Effects of Marijuana on Teenagers

In 2025, daily marijuana use exceeded daily cigarette use among 8th graders (0.9% vs. 0.2%), 10th graders (3.1% vs. 0.3%) and 12th graders (5.6% vs. 0.8%). According to the Monitoring the Future survey, the first year in which daily marijuana use appeared to outpace daily cigarette use among 8th graders occurred in 2017. This transition occurred in 10th graders in 2014  and in 12th graders in 2015, reflecting a steep decline in daily cigarette use and fairly stable daily marijuana use.

  • An estimated 6.3% of teen drivers overall, and 24.5% of teen drivers who use marijuana, report driving under the influence of marijuana.
  • Marijuana is the most commonly detected illicit drug among drivers involved in motor vehicle accidents and is present in 21.5% of traffic fatalities.
  • Early and frequent marijuana use during adolescence is associated with increased rates of mental and physical health problems in early adulthood.
  • Adolescents between ages 13 and 18 who have used cannabis are more than twice as likely to suffer from mild or moderate depression and over three times as likely to develop major depressive disorder than those who have never used marijuana.
  • More frequent marijuana use in adolescents ages 13-18 is linked to increased odds of suicide attempts and greater severity of major depressive episodes.
  • An estimated 45.2% of marijuana users ages 12-17 meet the criteria for a substance use disorder.
  • Regular marijuana use that starts during adolescence has been associated with adverse effects on cognitive function, including potential drops in IQ of up to 8 points.

Legalization of Marijuana

Over the years, marijuana legalization has become a hot topic of debate in U.S. politics. When it came to the question of recreational marijuana legalization, there was a division amongst individuals. However, many states have already legalized the drug for recreational use.  As of now, adults can legally use recreational marijuana in 24 states and Washington D.C., representing 48% of the United States. The rise of marijuana for medical use has contributed greatly to the increasing acceptance of the drug. 40 states, or 80% of the country, have legalized medical marijuana. More and more people are using the drug as the social stigma attached to it diminishes.

  • Legal marijuana made great economic strides in 2016, with industry sales totaling between $4 – $4.5 billion
  • In 2022, the legal marijuana industry generated $30 billion in sales, representing a 6.5  fold increase in just six years.
  • The legal marijuana industry is one of the fastest growing sectors, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 26.2%.
  • Analytic results predict that the legal marijuana industry could be worth up to $103.8 billion by 2030.
  • A recent Pew Research Center survey reports that 87% of Americans support legalization of recreational and/or medical marijuana.
  • About 54% of Americans live in a state that has legalized recreational marijuana.
  • Support for the legalization of marijuana among adults has more than doubled between 2000 and 2023.

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Marijuana-Related Crime

Despite the widespread use, growing social acceptance, and legalization in many states, marijuana-related offenses still account for a high number of arrests. According to FBI crime data, marijuana-related arrests now account for over a quarter of all drug arrests in the United States.

  • In 2025, marijuana-related arrests outnumbered arrests for weapon law violations and arrests for property destruction or vandalism.
  • Over the past five years, nearly 82% of all drug arrests involved simple drug possession offenses.
  • Marijuana possession arrests accounted for around 24.1% of all drug and narcotic offenses in 2025.
  • Out of nearly 760,000 drug arrests in the last year, approximately 198,000 of them were related to marijuana.
  • 76.2% of individuals arrested for marijuana possession are male.
  • 28.2% of individuals arrested for marijuana possession arrests are between the ages of 25 to 34.
  • 145 people were sentenced to federal prison for marijuana possession in 2021.
  • The number of federal offenders sentenced for possession of marijuana decreased by 93.3% between 2014 and 2021.
  • In 2024, 2.6% of federal drug trafficking cases involved marijuana.
  • Among those federally sentenced for marijuana trafficking in 2024, 34.5% were Hispanic, 32.0% were Black or African American, and 24.4% were White.

Sources

  1. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2024 National Survey on Drug use and Health
  2. Monitoring the Future, National Data on Substance Abuse
  3. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), Cannabis (Marijuana)
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cannabis Facts
  5. National Library of Medicine (NLM), Cannabis Use Around the World
  6. YouGov, Marijuana Survey
  7. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Adolescent Cannabis Use
  8. American Journal of Public Health (AJPH), Cannabis and Motor Vehicle Fatalities
  9. Pew Research Center, Marijuana Legalization
  10. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), State Cannabis Laws
  11. Marijuana Business Daily, Marijuana Business Factbook
  12. Vantage Market Research, Legal Marijuana
  13. New Frontier Data, Cannabis Sales
  14. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Crime Data
  15. United States Sentencing Commission (USSC), Marijuana Possession
  16. Drug Enforcement Administration, Marijuana Fact Sheet
  17. Florida Atlantic University (FAU), Marijuana Use Among Youth