Levels Of Cannabis And Hallucinogens Use Remain Historically High, According To Survey

A new survey is providing insights into the current amount of cannabis and hallucinogens use among American adults, according to News-Medical.

The findings are contained in the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future survey, funded by the National Institutes of Health.  It showed that the use of cannabis and hallucinogens remained at historically high levels among adults 19 to 30 and 35 to 50 in the US in 2023.  At the same time, the use of tobacco cigarettes among both adult groups stayed at all-time low levels last year.

42% of those ages 19 to 30 reported using cannabis in the previous year, with about 10% of that group saying they used cannabis nearly every day.  Among people ages 35 to 50, 29% said they used cannabis at least once in the past year, with 8% saying they used it on a daily basis.

Hallucinogen use reached 9% for adults 19 to 30 and 4% for adults 35 to 50 during 2023, continuing a sharp increase for both groups over the past five years.  Types of hallucinogens reported by participants included LSD, mescaline, peyote, shrooms or psilocybin, and PCP.

“I’m kind of struck at how frequent daily cannabis use is. You know, about 10% of the 19- to 30-year-olds; that’s 1 in 10,” Dr. Wilson Compton, deputy director of the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, told CNN. “On average, a certain number of people in any group that’s a sizable portion are using marijuana on a daily or near-daily basis. And I think that bears watching, and those levels are at a historical high. Although they didn’t increase this year compared to the previous year, they’re still at quite high levels.”

More women than men ages 19 to 30 reported cannabis use, the first time that has occurred.  But in the older age group, there were more men using it than women.   Vaping cannabis or nicotine among adults 19 to 30 remained at record highs in 2023 and has risen for the past five years.

While cannabis use is on the rise, the survey found that alcohol use among those 19 to 30 years old has continued to decline over the past ten years, though binge drinking increased among 35 to 50 year olds last year.  Overall, alcohol remains the most commonly used substance across age groups, followed by cannabis and nicotine.

“We have seen that people at different stages of adulthood are trending toward use of drugs like cannabis and psychedelics and away from tobacco cigarettes,” National Institute on Drug Abuse Director Nora Volkow. “These findings underscore the urgent need for rigorous research on the potential risks and benefits of cannabis and hallucinogens–especially as new products continue to emerge.”

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