raw research show that the overall enjoyment of hemp across the US has been increase since 2013 , but not so much among teenagers .

Cannabis use remains a controversial topic . more or less 200 million people use the drug worldwide , and it is the most popular psychoactive meat in the US .

Over the last few decades , change in the social perception , country statute law , and its decriminalization have helped it become more accepted among the population .

However , despite cannabis having potentialhealth benefitsin some linguistic context , itsadverse effectscontinue to causeconcernamong researchers and health professionals . At the same meter , different demographic groups are get it on to apply cannabis more than others , which may mean they are at greater risk of its minus wellness effects .

To interpret who is using ganja and the extent to which trends have changed across metre , research worker from the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville look at data for over 500,000 citizenry in time periods between 2013 and 2019 , and 2021 and 2022 .

The data was pull in from theNational Survey on Drug Use and Health . alas , the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the gathering of sight information for 2020 , so the researchers ' ability to just estimate behavioral departure in this period was greatly limited . As such , data point for this year was not included in the study .

The squad measured trend in current marihuana use of goods and services , which was delimitate as any exercise of the drug in the previous 30 days before occupy out the self - report survey . They also assess the preponderance patterns and style in use by demographic groups , base on years , gender , and race and ethnicity , as well as educational attainment and participants ' total annual family income .

Interestingly , the results establish thatteenagers ' usehad remained stable during the point tax , while the overall use of cannabis across other demographics increased .

“ We found that cannabis employment increase from 2013 to 2019 as well as from 2021 to 2022 , with the preponderance in 2020 falling within this trend , ” the squad write in their paper .

“ The prevalence of cannabis use did not change among youth over metre . While anterior inquiry call for preponderantly juvenility sampling suggests that the prevalence of cannabis use is increase and that this uptick is correlate with increasing age , our study offer a unlike view . ”

There could be multiple reasons for this tendency . Firstly , the data for the “ youths ” in this field bunched individuals from 12 to 17 twelvemonth of age into a single category . If this info could be disaggregated , it could disclose changes between unseasoned and one-time teenagers as they pass on through their schooltime years .

At the same metre , change in the legitimation and decriminalization of cannabis use in the US may have contributed to this situation . This is because dispensaries for recreational role are forbidden from sell to anyone under the age of 21 , a rule thatappearsto have largely been enforced .

But while teen may not be using marijuana at an increase pace , that isnot the casefor other demographic . The team establish that young adult age between 18 and 25 had systematically higher odds of current cannabis use compared to other group , and its overall use rose for adults between 26 and 64 years of age .

“ For race and ethnicity , ” the author write , “ cannabis use increased among Latino and non - Hispanic White respondents across metre from 2013 - 2019 and 2021–2022 . ”

“ Although the prevalence of economic consumption was generally not higher than their non - Hispanic Black and non - Latino multiracial counterparts , this rise in use , specially among Latino respondents , is noteworthy . ”

The cogitation also showed that people with high socioeconomic condition are progressively using hemp . The employment among people in higher - income households and those with college degrees had importantly increased . In 2013 , only 4 percentage of people with college level used marihuana , but this had get up to just under 13 pct by 2022 . Similarly , those live on in households that earned $ 75,000 or more per twelvemonth rose from just under 6 percent in 2013 to 13 percent in 2022 .

“ Our answer propose extra exploit are require to advantageously understand factor lead to addition in cannabis use in the US , ” the team conclude .

“ Although some multitude may utilise marihuana for its alterative effects , it is hard to overtop the likely harms of use , especially among at - peril population . ”

Aside from the disruptions to the data cause by the pandemic , the work has a few notable limitation . This admit the fact that the information was self - reported , which could make it bias . The discipline also neglected questions smother sexual preference because the data for this factor was not gathered in the 2013 and 2014 sketch .

Nevertheless , the solvent do show howcannabis usehas shifted across time and among different demographics .

“ In addition , give the changing landscape painting in US cannabis legitimation , and associated knowledge , attitudes , and beliefs about cannabis , ” the team argue , “ educational campaigns are ask to address the harms associated with increase cannabis use among youth and adult . ”

The subject area is published inDrug and Alcohol Dependence Reports .