September-October 2018

Key findings include:

• Reported use of marijuana in the past year increased from 8.5% to 11.6% between 2011 and 2015. Increases were seen among both men and women and across all age groups and racial/ethnic groups.
• In 2015, use was higher among men (15.8%) than women (7.6%) and decreased steadily with age, from 27.4% among 18-20 year-olds to 4.3% among those 65 years of age and older.
• Overall, in 2015, marijuana use was lower among Latinos (9.5%) and Asians (5.5%) than among other racial/ethnic groups, but these differences were influenced by country of birth, with 19.7% of U.S. born Latinos and 13.2% of U.S. born Asians reporting past-year use.
• Among U.S. born adults, marijuana use was high among those living below the federal poverty level (FPL). In 2015, 19.3% of U.S. born adults in households with incomes below 100% FPL reported using marijuana in the past year, including 15.6% of Latinos, 21.9% of African Americans, and 23.2% of whites.
• Among persons who reported using marijuana in the past year, the percent who also reported having a medical marijuana ID card or doctor’s recommendation increased from 20.7% in 2011 to 32.6% in 2015.
• Adult users were more likely than those who did not use marijuana to currently smoke cigarettes (25.1% vs 11.7%), have used an e-cigarette in the past month (10.1% vs 2.5%), and have reported binge drinking in the past month (38.7% vs. 12.9%).