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Patterns and Trends
Q1. IS MARIJUANA USE OR MISUSE MORE
WIDESPREAD THAN EVER BEFORE?
Answer : No. Although there has been an increase in marijuana use in
recent years, marijuana use percentages are still not as high as their peak
in 1979. In addition, marijuana misuse (i.e., abuse of or dependence on
marijuana) has remained stable for over a decade. Considering such pat-
terns within key age categories, however, reveals some notable changes
in marijuana use and misuse over the 2004–2014 decade. For youth (ages
12 to 17), marijuana use and misuse were signifi cantly lower in 2014 than
in 2004. For young adults (ages 18 to 25) use was higher in 2014 than in
2004, but misuse was lower in 2014 than in 2004. For adults ages 26 to
49, rates of marijuana use increased during this time, but there were no
signifi cant changes in marijuana misuse for this age group. In youth, there
were very few differences in marijuana use or misuse by sex (i.e., being
female or male), but across all the adult ages considered here (ages 18 to
49), women used and misused marijuana at signifi cantly lower rates than
men did (National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2016).
The Facts : Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the
United States. In 2014, an estimated 13.3 percent of the population
of U.S. household residents ages 12 and older (about 35 million peo-
ple) had used marijuana at least once during the prior 12 months, and
