Trends in the Prevalence of Cannabis Use

Interesting Trend 1️⃣

▶︎ Cannabis use in the last 12 months by 19 – 30 year olds bottomed out around 1991 at 23% of the population and roughly doubled to 42% in 2023

▶︎ Interestingly,

▷ Daily use was 2% in 1991 and rose 5-fold to 11% in 2023.

▷ So then daily users as a percent of 12 month users increased from 11% in 1991 to 25% in 2023.


Interesting Trend 2️⃣

▶︎ There was an uptick in the increase (second derivative) in the prevalence of cannabis use between 2010 and 2011 then another shift in 2015 and 2016 for 19 – 30 year olds. There was a similar shift for 35 – 50 year olds between 2016 and 2017. The latter shift was especially large for 12 month users.

Colorado legalized adult use in 2012, while California legalized it in 2016. It looks like those likely contributed to the upticks in use.