Guess how many Americans smoke weed right now? (Results of the gallop survey)

National acceptance and use of cannabis in the United States are at an all-time high. This claim has been borne out by the recently published results of the Gallup poll.

In the past twenty years, cannabis culture in the country has changed dramatically. It has grown from a heavily stigmatized plant that is banned in many states to a medically approved drug that has been decriminalized in several states. Marijuana has a large number of fans across the country, and the number can only continue to grow right now.

Gallup poll

The Gallup Group decided to conduct this survey to get a picture of how much the country’s culture has changed since cannabis became a widely used product. Very few of the statistics available prior to this survey give up-to-date figures on the current trend in cannabis use in the country.

The recently completed Gallup poll shows that at least half of the US population has tried cannabis. The survey also compared this number with statistics on cigarette consumption. At least 15 percent of Americans smoke cigarettes, and a high percentage of these users want to quit. 12 percent also stated that they regularly use cannabis.

This means that the rate of cannabis use is almost, if not equal, that of cigarette use. Just as many people who smoke cannabis also smoke cigarettes regularly.

Something surprising

Who would have thought that the baby boomers and even Generation X are some of the people who smoke cigarettes today? If you look at the history of cannabis in the United States, these people are old enough to remember the point where cannabis became unacceptable and cigarettes became the norm.

Back then, even TV shows and movies portrayed weeds as the greater evil of the two.

More statistics

According to the new poll, about 50 percent of Americans over 21 say they have tried cannabis. This means that the number has doubled compared to 1977. To shed some light on this, statistics on cannabis use in America show that 20 percent of American adults tried weed in 1977, it was 30 percent in 1985, and it was about 40 percent in 2015.

A new survey also categorically shows that cannabis users have increased since the late 20th century. However, it is also made clear that the number of regular cannabis smokers has remained the same over the years, despite new users trying the drug. Since the 1970s, 11-13 percent of American adults have admitted to smoking marijuana regularly. The lowest number was observed in 2013, when less than 8% of American adults reported using cannabis regularly.

Those numbers are on the same page as the recent Gallup polls. The polls published results show that approximately 68 percent of American adults support the decriminalization and legalization of cannabis in their states. An independent survey conducted earlier this year found that 70 percent of Americans were morally unaffected by cannabis use.

The younger American generation is more inclined to smoke weed

The surveys show that cannabis use by the older generation, especially traditionalists, is low. Gallup classified people born before 1945 as traditionalists. This group is averse to cannabis use. Only 19 percent of total traditionalists say they have tried smoking weed a few times in their seventy years or more.

On the other hand, the other three generations after this group have tried cannabis multiple times and make up a large percentage of total regular cannabis users.

At least 50% of baby boomers have tried cannabis, 49% of Generation X and more than half of millennials have tried cannabis.

According to the Gallups report, the percentage of baby boomers and Generation X who have tried marijuana since the 1980s and 1990s has not increased noticeably. However, these numbers were used to replace the number lost to the deaths of older members of the traditionalist generation.

Generation Z was not included in the survey because they are quite young and the oldest members of the group are 24 years old.

Regular cannabis users

As expected, the youngest, the millennials, were the group that led the group of regular cannabis smokers. The percentage of traditionalists who regularly use cannabis peaked at 1 percent, followed by baby boomers at 9 percent. Generation Xers are the second highest cannabis users at 11 percent, while over 20 percent of millennials regularly smoke cannabis.

The survey also differentiated cannabis users based on gender, religion and level of education.

Based on gender

In the United States, more and more men are smoking weed. Women are just starting to adopt cannabis. Currently, 16 percent of American adults smoke marijuana compared to 9 percent of women who do the same.

Based on religious practices

Only 3 percent of Americans who go to their religious place of worship weekly smoke cannabis, while 6 percent of monthly visitors say they smoke cannabis.

Over 19 percent of Americans who rarely or never attend church services say they smoke cannabis regularly.

Based on political affiliations

Liberals smoke more cannabis.

Only 6 percent of Conservatives admitted using marijuana regularly, while about 22 percent of Liberals admitted the same. This is unsurprising as Liberals have become increasingly supportive of cannabis reforms.

Based on educational level

According to the survey, the lower the level of education, the higher the consumption of marijuana. 14 percent of American adults with a bachelor’s degree, diploma or less say they smoke cannabis; that number stayed at 5 percent for those with a postgraduate degree.

Bottom line

Smoking is most common among the younger generations, and Generation Z is expected to increase the total when a new study is done.

The current statistic is the highest ever obtained.

The Gallup survey to collect this data was conducted between July 6th and July 21st of this year.

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