{"id":19175,"date":"2013-04-17T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T05:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/marijuana-use-increased-over-the-last-decade\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:44:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:44:47","slug":"marijuana-use-increased-over-the-last-decade","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2013\/04\/17\/marijuana-use-increased-over-the-last-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"Marijuana Use Increased Over the Last Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just two years ago, 40% of adults said they had tried marijuana. In both 2003 and 2001, 38% said they had used marijuana. In the latest Pew Research Center survey, conducted in March, the number of those saying they had ever tried marijuana climbed to 48%, the highest percentage ever.<\/p>\n\n

The survey found that a majority of Americans favor legalizing the use of marijuana for the first time in more than four decades of polling.<\/p>\n\n

Of the 48% who have ever used it, about a quarter of them \u2013 12% of the general public say they did so in the past year. The other 36% say they have tried marijuana, but not in the past year.<\/p>\n\n

People who say they have used marijuana in the past year did so both for medical reasons and \u201cjust for fun.\u201d About half (53%) of those recent users say that a medical issue was part of the reason for their use, including 23% who volunteer that they used marijuana for both medical and recreational purposes. The remaining 47% say they used marijuana just for fun.<\/p>\n\n

(See also a slideshow<\/a> with key findings from our latest survey about public opinion on marijuana and a timeline<\/a> tracking trends on whether it should be legalized<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n

More than half of young people (56%) say they have ever tried marijuana, and 27% say they have tried it in the past year \u2013 by far the highest percentage in any age category.<\/p>\n\n

About half of those 30- to 49 (51%) and 50-64 (54%) have ever tried marijuana, although only about one-in-ten did so last year. Just 22% of adults 65 and older have ever used marijuana, including 2% who say they have used it in the past year.<\/p>\n\n

Men are more likely to say they have tried marijuana than women, 54% vs. 42%. Half of whites and blacks (50%) say they have ever tried marijuana, compared with 34% of Hispanics.<\/p>\n\n

Democrats and Republicans are about equally likely to say they have tried the drug over their lifetimes, 47% vs. 43%; independents are somewhat more likely to have used it (53%). Read more<\/a><\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roughly half of adults say they have ever tried marijuana, the highest percentage 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