The small proportion of Australians who take rapper Nate Dogg's advice to "smoke weed every day" are consuming the overwhelming majority of the country's cannabis.

Daily users consumed up to 85 per cent of all cannabis in Australia in 2016, according to researchers.

That's despite them making up just 16 per cent of users.

The finding, by the University of Queensland's Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, could have implications for the debate around legalisation of the drug.

"The pattern is very similar to what we observe in alcohol," lead researcher Gary Chan told 7NEWS.com.au.

File image of a marijuana joint. Credit: Getty

"There are some suggestions consumption patterns of cannabis might be different to alcohol, where the majority is consumed by a very small proportion of heavy drinkers.

"But that's not the case."

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Researchers estimate around 1.95 million Australians used cannabis in 2016 - that's 10.5 per cent of the population.

That's an increase of 1.6 per cent from 2007.

Researchers split users of the illicit substance into categories of frequency - daily, weekly, monthly, every few months and once or twice a year.

A joint a day

Some 312,000 people fell into the daily category.

On average, they smoke approximately one joint or an equivalent amount, such as in a bong, per day.

Combined, those in the daily and weekly categories - 37 per cent of users - consumed 98 per cent of all Australian cannabis.

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Around 3.5 per cent of the population reported using the drug one or twice a year - the largest category.

Previous studies have found approximately one in 10 cannabis users will become dependent, Chan said.

Legalisation

He said the findings should be considered in policies around the legalisation of cannabis for recreational use.

"It seems to me there's a global trend towards liberal attitudes on cannabis legalisation," Chan said.

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"For countries which legalise cannabis, they would need to bear in mind the burden of cannabis would fall on a very small proportion of users.

"We would need to have policies to discourage very heavy use."

Mental health

He urged a tax based on the drug's potency, restrictions on advertising and marketing and screening of heavy cannabis users in medical settings.

He also said cannabis has been linked to mental health issues.

The researchers analysed data collected by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on household drug use.