The number of Americans who have ever smoked a marijuana blunt has risen by more than a fifth over a recent eight-year period, a new study shows.
Examining data from the federally funded National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), researchers found that “blunt smoking increased substantially from 2015 to 2022,” with the largest growth in use coming from women, older people and those who do not drink alcohol.
“Much of the increase in blunt smoking was observed among groups with historically lower use rates,” the paper, which was published by the journal Addictive Behaviors, says.
Overall, the number of people who have ever smoked a cannabis blunt rose 21.7 percent in the U.S. from 2015 to 2022, according to the research. Use within the past 30 days increased 34.4 percent, and the prevalence of daily blunt smoking among current marijuana consumers increased by 24.5 percent.
“The prevalence of life, current, and daily blunt smoking increased significantly from 2015 to 2022 among adults in the US.”
The researchers—from the University of Texas, Brown University, University of California Los Angeles and University of Cincinnati—said the rise in blunt smoking is “consistent with prior research showing an increase in cannabis use (of any modality) in national samples.”
They cautioned, however, that “the inclusion of the tobacco cigar wrapper poses unique and elevated risks relative to other modalities of cannabis use.”
The NSDUH data involved survey responses from 326,087 adults as well as a subsample of 22,294 current blunt smokers to examine daily blunt smoking.
“Lifetime blunt smoking increased significantly more among non-Hispanic White (23.7 %) and Hispanic (30.2 %) relative to non-Hispanic Black (8.6 %) adults; similar increases were observed among those older than 18–25 years,” the researchers wrote. “Current blunt smoking increased significantly greater among females (63.6 %) relative to males (19.0 %) and among those who did not use alcohol (92.3 %) relative to those who did use alcohol (23.4 %). Daily blunt smoking increased significantly greater among non-Hispanic White (80.4 %) relative to non-Hispanic Black (3.7 %) adults.”
Meanwhile, a recently survey found that a majority of Americans believe marijuana represents a “healthier option” than alcohol—and most also expect cannabis to be legal in all 50 states within the next five years.
Last month, another poll showed that a majority of Americans don’t consider marijuana dangerous, though most do think consuming cannabis increases the likelihood that people will transition to using more dangerous drugs.
A survey from the Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR), which was conducted by the firm Forbes Tate Partners, showed that seven in 10 American voters want to see the end of federal marijuana prohibition—and nearly half say they’d view the Trump administration more favorably if it took action on the issue.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, a firm associated with President Donald Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates—also polled Americans on a series of broader marijuana policy issues. Notably, it found that a majority of Republicans back cannabis rescheduling—and, notably, they’re even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
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