More Ohio adults smoking weed than ever before, survey says

More Ohio adults are using marijuana than ever before, according to recently released state data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

The number of weed-smoking adults in Ohio increased 14.9 percent over the two-year period from 2015 through 2016, compared to the previous two years, according to an analysis of survey results by Harm Reduction Ohio, a drug policy reform group.

About 1.24 million Ohio adults said they used marijuana in the past year in the latest NSDUH survey - roughly one in seven. That was the highest number since the survey from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began tracking illicit drug use nationwide in 1971.

The survey didn't ask how marijuana was consumed, but the illicit drug is available in Ohio primarily in bud form for smoking.

The state data shows about 94 percent of new adult marijuana users in Ohio were older than 26. That may be a sign that an increasing number of marijuana users in Ohio are using the drug to treat aches and pains and other medical conditions, said Dennis Cauchon, president of Harm Reduction.

"The survey didn't ask that question, but to me it's just common sense that medical use is a big factor in the overall increase,'' Cauchon said. "I have friends who are using it to help them go to sleep or deal with chronic pain. It's not young people who are using it more, it's aging Baby Boomers.''

The national data seems to back up Cauchon's assumptions.

Overall, about 24 million Americans were marijuana users in 2016, slightly higher than the previous year, according to NSDUH national results released last year.

And the increase in marijuana use was primarily among adults aged 26 or older and, to a lesser extent, among young adults aged 18 to 25, according to the survey's authors.

The NSDUH survey jibes with a recent Gallup poll and other surveys that have found an increasing number of Americans are using marijuana and more are in favor of making it legal.

Ohio is among 29 states and the District of Columbia that have already passed laws making marijuana use legal for medical purposes.

Ohio's Medical Marijuana Control Program is expected to launch this fall, and state agencies have already licensed 24 weed farms and are reviewing license applications for dispensaries and processors.