You are currently viewing A new poll says the percentage of American adults who have tried marijuana rose to 49%, the highest measured to date.

A new poll says the percentage of American adults who have tried marijuana rose to 49%, the highest measured to date.

Author: Kaia Hubbard

The poll found that 49% of adults say they have tried marijuana, up from 45% in 2017 and 2019. Just over 50 years ago, only 4% of American adults said they had tried marijuana. But by 1977, the share of adults who said they had tried the substance surpassed 20%, rising to around 30% in 1985 and more than 40% by 2015.

Generational patterns are behind the “increase in marijuana experimentation over the last five decades,” the report says. Among the oldest generation surveyed, those born before 1946, just under 20% report having tried marijuana, while more than 50% of millennials say they have tried the substance. About half of Generation X and baby boomers likewise reported having tried marijuana. According to Gallup, the increase in the portion of U.S. adults who have tried marijuana likely reflects millennials replacing the oldest of the traditionalists, those born before 1946, in the U.S. adult population.

View the full article at usnews.com