1 in 5 Young Adults Say They Use Marijuana: Survey
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Jan. 5, 2022 – Nearly 1 in 5 people in the U.S. age 12 or older said they used marijuana in 2021, according to new federal survey results.
The findings were part of the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health released Wednesday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“As the findings make clear, millions of Americans young and old faced mental health and substance use challenges – sometimes both at once – during the second year of the pandemic,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
The survey took place both in person and online, and due to changes in how it was done, officials said the data cannot be accurately compared to the results of previous years. But there were many signs that drug use and mental illness increased with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to being the most prevalent age group among marijuana users and those with mental illness, 18- to 25-year-olds were the most likely to have a substance use disorder in the past year. The survey showed that 94% of people with a substance use disorder did not get treatment, and researchers wrote that “nearly all people with a substance use disorder who did not get treatment at a specialty facility did not think they needed treatment.”
