Cannabis is more popular among Americans than it has ever been. After decades of prohibition, the past few years have seen dozens of states pass cannabis legislation, and thanks to constant demand, the nascent state-legal cannabis industry has already generated billions of dollars in revenue. The controversial plant has been the most-used drug in the United States for years and according to a recently released poll by Gallup, nearly half of the adults in the country have consumed cannabis at one point in their lives.
An estimated 49% of American adults have used cannabis at some point in their lives, analytics and advisory company Gallup says. The Washington-based firm has been running annual consumption habits polls for more than 50 years, and this is the highest percentage it has measured to date. More than 50 years ago, only 4% of Americans reported that they had tried cannabis, with the percentage gradually increasing to 20% in 1977, 30% in 1985 and 40% in 2015. Only 12% revealed that they smoked marijuana regularly.
According to Gallup, the proportion of American adults who smoke cannabis was 7% in 2013 and varied between 11% and 13% in recent years. This group skewed younger, with data collected from 2015–2021 showing that 20% of millennials smoke marijuana compared to 11% of gen Xers and 9% of baby boomers. However, polls did not contain data from gen Zers, the oldest of whom would be 24, as Gallup hasn’t collected sufficient data from them yet. The differences in cannabis use rates were mostly generational, with the older folk being less likely to try cannabis.
Older Americans born before 1945, for instance, were the least likely of all the generations to have tried marijuana with only 19% saying they had tried with marijuana. On the other hand, 51% of millennials, 49% of Gen Xers, and 50% of baby boomers have experimented with cannabis at least once in their lives.
Data from Gallup polls conducted from 1985 to 1999 shows that 44% of gen Xers and 50% of baby boomers had already tried cannabis by then. Only 10% of traditionalists, or individuals born before 1945, had tried marijuana by then and, as of the latest consumption habits poll, just 1% of traditionalists smoke marijuana compared to 20% of millennials.
Gallup polls also indicated that 16% of men and 9% of women have tried cannabis. Education levels also affected usage rates, with 14% of those with a four-year degree or less and just 5% of those with postgraduate education saying they use marijuana. On the political spectrum, 22% of liberals, 15% of Democrats, 6% of conservatives and 7% of Republicans reported using cannabis regularly.
These statistics regarding the number of Americans who have ever used cannabis suggest that marijuana companies such as Flora Growth Corp. (NASDAQ: FLGC) can look forward to even better years ahead given that attitudes to marijuana are changing fast and federal legalization may not be far off.
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