Cannabis Smoking in America Reaches a Record High

America’s relationship with cannabis has reached a new milestone. Gallup’s latest Consumption Habits poll shows that cannabis smoking in America has overtaken cigarette smoking for the first time on record. Seventeen percent of Americans now say they smoke cannabis, while just 11% say they smoke cigarettes.

The figures were released this week. They tie the record high for cannabis smoking in America first recorded in 2023. They also represent a rise of 10 percentage points since 2013, when only 7% of adults reported smoking cannabis. Cigarette smoking, meanwhile, continues its long decline. It has held steady at 11% since 2024 but sits 14 percentage points lower than in 2003.

Who Is Driving the Rise in Cannabis Smoking

Gallup’s data paints a fairly clear picture of who is behind the rise in cannabis smoking. Users are typically men aged between 18 and 49. Most lack a college degree and earn less than $50,000 a year. They also tend to be less religious than the national average and often drink alcohol as well. Usage falls away sharply with age, dropping to 10% among those aged 50 to 64 and just 5% among adults 65 and older.

Women are not far behind when it comes to cannabis consumption in edible form. They are slightly more likely than men to eat cannabis edibles. They also overtake men entirely in the $100,000 plus household income bracket. This suggests the profile of cannabis smoking in America is becoming more varied than the headline figures alone suggest.

Edibles and Public Opinion

Cannabis smoking is not the only route into use. Fifteen percent of US adults now say they consume cannabis edibles, up from 14% in 2022 and 12% in 2024. The steady climb suggests edibles are becoming an increasingly normal route into cannabis consumption alongside smoking.

Opinion on cannabis’s effects remains split down the middle. Forty seven percent of adults described the effects as ranging from very to somewhat positive. Meanwhile, 46% described them as ranging from very to somewhat negative. It is a near even divide, and it shows Americans remain far from united on how cannabis affects them.

Alcohol Consumption Falls as Cannabis Smoking Grows

The rise in cannabis smoking in America has coincided with a fall in alcohol consumption. Gallup found that 54% of respondents currently drink alcohol, down sharply from 67% in 2022. A separate 2024 study went further still. It recorded Americans choosing cannabis over alcohol for daily consumption for the first time in history, pointing to a genuine reshuffling of the nation’s preferred substances.

More than half of US states have now legalised cannabis for recreational use. It nonetheless remains illegal under federal law. A federal survey published in July reinforced the trend Gallup describes. It found cannabis smoking climbing while both alcohol and cigarette consumption continue to fall.

A Generational Divide in Nicotine Habits

Tobacco habits are shifting too, though in a different direction. Weekly e cigarette use has stayed within a narrow band of 6% to 9% for several years. For the first time, Gallup asked about nicotine pouches. These are small sachets placed between the lip and gum that deliver nicotine directly into the bloodstream. It found that 4% of respondents had used one in the past week.

The generational pattern is striking. Adults aged 30 to 49 are more likely to smoke traditional cigarettes. Vaping, however, is most common among those aged 18 to 29. Nicotine pouches attract younger adults too. They are used by 5% of 18 to 29 year olds and 7% of those aged 30 to 49, compared with just 1% of adults 65 and older. The gender gap is widest of all for pouches, with 7% of men reporting use against just 1% of women.

Taken together, the figures describe a country in the middle of a substantial shift in how it consumes mood altering substances. Gallup’s poll surveyed 1,200 adults between 1 and 19 July, across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Cannabis smoking in America, once a niche habit, is fast becoming a mainstream one, increasingly rivalling, and now overtaking, the cigarette.

Source: dbrecoveryresources