Record High of 45 Percent of Americans Have Tried Pot, Survey Reveals
A recent poll conducted by Gallup revealed that the number of people in the United States who have tried marijuana at least once is at a record high since 1969.
According to the survey findings published on Wednesday, July 19, 45 percent of respondents say that they have tried marijuana. This figure is a new high for the poll company since 1969, according to their summary.
Moreover, the poll revealed new insights into the current state of cannabis use in the country. The results suggest that one in eight adults in the U.S. currently smoke marijuana, with younger men in the lower income brackets more likely to indulge in the leaf.
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In the survey, 1,021 adults aged 18 and up were asked a variety of questions related to the use of marijuana. Of these, 12 percent answered that they currently smoke pot, compared to six percent who responded the same in the 2013 survey.
Thirteen percent of men said that they smoke marijuana, compared to just seven percent of women who admitted to using cannabis. Most of the respondents who said they currently smoke pot were between the ages 18 and 29.
The percentage of those who said they have tried marijuana at some point were well represented in the 30 to 64-year-old range, which could suggest that cannabis was more popular with Generation X and baby boomers compared to millennials.
Meanwhile, the rising trend of marijuana use could have led to more drug arrests, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU noted how 52 percent of drug arrests in 2010 were for marijuana, accounting for more than half of drug-related arrests in the United States that year.
What's more is that most of these arrests were not for selling. According to their figures, 88 percent of the 8.2 million arrests made for marijuana were for possession. These figures could worsen with the announcement of a crime reduction task force that aims to review federal policy on marijuana, according to CNBC.
