What percentage of the US population smokes grass?

[BootinUp]

Maybe there is research on the nets somewhere but I really wanted to see what DU'ers estimate on this question. We are talking about people who buy it and use it once a month or more often.

Edit: Grow-it-yourselfers qualify too of course!

[babylonsister]

1. I'm going w/50%, more if it were legal nt

[Codeine]

2. There is absolutely no way half of all Americans smoke pot.

That's just not possible.

[babylonsister]

3. OK, wishful thinking. 40%?

:rofl: I think a lot more people do than you might think, or else there wouldn't be such a demand.

[Codeine]

6. I guessed around 20%

That's still, what, like 60+million people? I could build one hell of an industry around that customer base.

Just a guess, though. Hell, could be 70% for all I actually know!

[CommonSensePLZ]

14. I don't, but I picked more than 50% too

It seems like people across races and age groups all love pot (Hmm, why was Bush elected twice if the people disliked him both times? I'm just sayin'... :argh:)


IMO it should only be used medically, a healthy person shouldn't need pot, alcohol or any other drug to make them feel happy and it's not gonna help them fix their problems, unless I guess they're 14 trying to fit in with the cool kids. :eyes:

[JonLP24]

18. I'm not trying to fix any problems

It's just something nice to relax with & combination with another activity. For instance, watching the Yankees-Ranges game if you can tolerate a baseball game.

[CommonSensePLZ]

41. To each his own .nt

[TwilightGardener]

4. Less than 20% is my guess. I've never smoked pot, don't hang around

anyone who does.

[Codeine]

7. I thought I was the only DUer who hadn't tried pot. nt

[TwilightGardener]

12. Nope--you've got company. Most I've ever done was drink, and I grew out of that

by about 23. I don't know, pot and other drugs just never presented themselves to me, and I never sought them out. Life is funny that way.

[iris27]

15. Nope. Never tried it - hell, never

so much as been offered it!

[sandnsea]

21. How did that happen?

Are you in your 70s or did you grow up in a church environment or something? I don't think I know anybody who hasn't at least been offered, at some point or other. I think even my parents were offered at points in their life.

[TheWraith]

47. You're not really missing much.

I went all through my teens and early 20s without trying it, then not too long ago was induced to sample a little by my then girlfriend. Nothing wrong with it, but it didn't strike me as amazing. It's just kind of a pleasurable buzz sensation, like a more lightheaded version of being half drunk.

[Number23]

50. Never tried it. Ain't never GOING to try it.

[Warpy]

13. Probably half my coworkers at my last job

were recreational tokers. I'd guess the number is a lot higher as you get younger. Very few in Gen. Suck are current smokers, more older Boomers are, and every succeeding generation ticks the numbers up higher.

Location would also have something to do with it.

[TwilightGardener]

22. I think it might be somewhat generational. I'm gen-X, don't remember

weed being a very prevalent thing in my youth, at least among my nerdy little crowd. On edit, I should add that we sort of looked on stoners as losers.

[Blue_In_AK]

27. I think a lot has to do with where you live

My kids are Gen-X and -Y and they all smoked pot at one time or another. Two have given it up and one still indulges. As I said somewhere else, it's been virtually legal here since 1975 so people don't think much about it. It's like drinking a beer after work or something, no big deal. We seem to be functioning okay -- outside of that little Sarah Palin fuck-up. Sorry, we kind of spaced out there. ... John McCain must have been smoking some of it, too. :rofl:

[TwilightGardener]

33. That's certainly possible--I'm sure things may have been different

had I lived on, say, the West Coast. Or Alaska...:) You tend to do whatever is the cultural norm.

[fizzgig]

38. i agree it has a lot to do with geography

i'm in colorado and it's not seen as anything out of the ordinary, at least in my part of the state.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. How about people who grow it and use it?

Not that I would know anything about that, but I do know several people who fall in that category.

Here in Alaska, where possession of up to an ounce of mj has essentially been legal since 1975, I would assume the percentage is very high. At least in the legal profession in which I used to work, almost everyone I knew smoked it.

Even Sarah Palin admitted to smoking pot. Not that it did her much good.

[BootinUp]

8. I should have included grow-your-own.

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

20. It would have been ridiculous for her to deny it

...since there was a well circulated photo of Sarah in her college days, looking rather baked with what appeared to be a lighter and a baggie with something green in it in her hands.


Now as for Myself..... well I am "the Most High", but I have no need to smoke anything. :rofl:

[Blue_In_AK]

25. Fitting, given your name,

:rofl: We mere mortals need a little assistance.

[Raine]

9. 10%-12% at very most but probably actually about 2%

the 10-12% being those that tried it, the 2% being regular users, IMO.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

53. What Are You Smoking?????

41% of Americans have tried marijuana:


http://www.alternet.org/drugs/142556/over_100_million_americans_have_smoked_marijuana_--_and_it's_still_illegal_/


I grew up in the 70s. Practically everybody in my peer group tried weed and that includes friends who ended up becoming lawyers and officers in the Army via West Point...

[demmiblue]

10. Less than 10 %

But this is only based on my personal experience.

[Drunken Irishman]

11. 10-15%.

[salvorhardin]

16. A lot lower than you might think given the attention it gets. About 6.6%.

According to the 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in 2009, an estimated 16.7 million or 6.6% of Americans aged 12 or older were current marijuana users, meaning they had used marijuana during the month prior to the survey. That was up from the previous year.

http://www.oas.samhsa.gov/NSDUH/2k9NSDUH/2k9Results.htm

I can't seem to find the numbers for those who had used it in the previous year right now. That would count casual users too.

ETA: OK, I found it. About 10% say they've used marijuana in the past year, about 41% say they've tried it at least once in their lives.
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/142556/over_100_million_americans_have_smoked_marijuana_--_and_it%27s_still_illegal_/

As the Alternet story points out, people generally under report their use on these surveys.

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Seeing these guesses, I'm thinking

you people in the Lower 48 don't smoke enough pot. :hippie:

[babylonsister]

40. ...

:rofl: Send some!

[Mimosa]

19. I think it's a bit over 10%

I don't smoke it. But I've known those who do.

Nobody who has responsibility for the safety of others -professional drivers, pilots, etc- should use it. And nobody should drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

[alfredo]

23. 89% if you polled the kitchen staff at most restaurants.

[Blue_In_AK]

26. No doubt.

:smoke:

[alfredo]

39. It's required under state law.

[tridim]

24. Thanks to prohibition, nobody knows.

I think it's higher :smoke: than most people realize. Probably around 50% smoke it at least once a year.

[krabigirl]

29. +1

[Swamp Rat]

28. Probably less than 50%

[opihimoimoi]

30. Up in Smoke....les go Chong one fatty......gatta be 30% +

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCZap4o777g

[BootinUp]

31. I should have put my guess up, I was thinking 5-20%

I probably would have said < 20%.

[the redcoat]

32. How often? Daily, occasionally, or have tried?

Also, I might just be being a nitpicky asshole here, but that whole "less than" approach isn't the best. Technically, people who vote <10% are also casting a vote for every other option (except 70+). We obviously know what you're trying to say, but try not to make polls with overlapping choices. Try 0-10%, 11-20%, etc.

[BootinUp]

34. And yet there is still a good spread of opinion

I think the poll is working ok. The poll question is based on using monthly or more often.

[the redcoat]

36. Sorry, forgot to read that part. nt

[BootinUp]

37. no worries.

[fizzgig]

35. i think my perspective might be pretty skewed

i know far, far more people who smoke than not, but i know that's a factor of location/occupation/social group.

[asdjrocky]

42. It's actually about 20%.

Which is a 19.5% higher percentage rate than people that still call cannabis grass.

[BootinUp]

43. I am sure you are supplying useful info

note however that a survey was posted upthread that has it more like 7%. On the common slang, surprised if the usage of the term grass was that low, but I think you were exagerating a little there on purpose.

[asdjrocky]

44. Lol, really just a joke.

It's far closer to 20% than 7%. Those numbers are based on government surveys.

[salvorhardin]

45. What's even more interesting from the same survey is total illegal drug use is at only 8.7%

That's current users, so the number that have used in the past year will be higher, and as always, people under report greatly on these surveys but still... the entire drug war is being fought over 9% of the population? All that wasted money, all those wasted years.

[Warren DeMontague]

46. I think it's groovy to call cannabis grass

far out, even.

[BootinUp]

52. those who call it cannabis are clearly superior. nt

[Blue_In_AK]

57. Hey, man, you got a lid I can buy off you?

That's how old I am. :rofl:

[awoke_in_2003]

48. I have to go...

less than 10%. Almost every job piss tests these days, and most refrain for fear of testing positive

[Zax2me]

49. Voted 10%

Think it is very age related. For the most part.
The percentage of my friends today versus back in...young twenties....HUGE drop off.
Some now do but not as often.
10% at any given time I'd say.
Percentage goes WAY up if you ask people who have done it three or more times in lifetime.

[eridani]

51. Regularly? Probably

Occasionally? Probably around 30%.

[Maine-ah]

54. heh....us restaurant workers alone probably consume most of it.

:P

[beforeyoureyes]

55. Everyone I know smokes pot or has smoked it

I don't know anyone outside my older relatives who hasn't smoked.

And, the 'criminals' I know who smoke it include nurses, doctors, restaurant owners, factory owners, artists, lawyers, social workers, and teachers.

Obviously the range of how much each individual smokes varies widely.

Many people who do smoke pot just don't tell those who don't because they don't know what the reaction will be. You probably all know at least one or more of us.

I believe if everyone who smoked came out, it would be made legal and this craziness would go away.

[KossackRealityCheck]

56. Depends on what you mean by smoke

I think it's very hard to measure this kind of thing because the definitions are vague.

Does this include a person who smokes once a year or every other year when he gets together with his old college friends and someone for old times sake passes a joint? Or does it mean people who smoke the way cigarette smokers smoke, ie, every day or at least once a week?

I think the number of people who smoke one a week or more is very, very small. Maybe 1-5%

The percentage of people who smoke opportunistically a few times a year is probably 20% or higher. It's really the number of people who have every smoked in their lives and don't foreclose the possibility of occasionally partaking.

Survey results kind of average these various groups out through fuzzy self reporting and not understanding the intent of the question.

[BootinUp]

59. You might have missed it

I defined the question further in the OP to mean buys or grows and smokes once a month or more.

I agree with your observations on the accuracy of surveys in general.

Your estimates strike me as quite plausible.

[babsbunny]

58. from the people I know

I say half, and then there are the ones who are hiding.......