12 States Smoking the Most Marijuana

On Tuesday, voters in five states will decide whether or not to legalize recreational marijuana. Despite the current prohibition of marijuana, relatively large shares of voting-age adults in these states smoke pot.

Some states report much higher marijuana use than others. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the percentage of people consuming marijuana at least once in the past year in every state from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Colorado leads the nation with 21.6% of people reporting use of the drug.

States with fewer marijuana restrictions tend to have higher cannabis use rates. All four states where recreational marijuana use is legal — Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington — are among the 12 states with the highest use rates. Every state on this list is among the 25 states where medical marijuana is legal. In these states, a physician may recommend marijuana for the treatment of a range of conditions, including cancer, Crohn’s disease, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, PTSD, eating disorders, chronic pain, and seizures arising from epilepsy and other ailments.

Click here to see the 12 states smoking the most marijuana.

Whether state-level legalization of medical marijuana increases the accessibility and appeal of the drug to young people is still largely an open question. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found there were no significant differences in marijuana use before and after policy changes. The study interviewed 12 million students across multiple years and several states.

The evidence for and against marijuana use is mixed. While benefits for certain medical uses are widely acknowledged, a number of studies have suggested heavy marijuana use during adolescence can have long term negative effects, including lower cognitive functioning, difficulty learning, and memory impairment. However, according to the American Psychological Association, it is still unclear whether there is a safe level of use or whether the brain changes associated with marijuana use are permanent.

Yet, 27.8% of Americans perceive smoking marijuana once a month to be a great risk. The share of survey respondents who believe the monthly use of the drug is harmful tends to be lower in the 12 states with the highest user rates.

Mirroring the varied perspectives on marijuana use, the states where pot is legal have introduced legislation for very different reasons. In Colorado, the campaign that eventually led to legalization argued for marijuana as a safe alternative to alcohol. By contrast, in Washington, advocates argued marijuana should be legalized because it is not safe and therefore should be regulated. In Washington, advocates argued further that processing the numerous marijuana cases was an unnecessary burden on the justice system.

High marijuana use rates cluster geographically. Five of the 12 states are in New England, and three are on the West coast.

To identify the 12 states smoking the most marijuana, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the percentage of people 12 years and over who reported smoking marijuana in the past year based on surveys conducted between 2013 and 2014 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also known as SAMHSA. A range of other drug use data, including total drug users, marijuana initiates over the past two years, use in the past month, and perceptions of risk among each state’s 12 years and older population, also came from SAMHSA. Maximum fines for possession were obtained from marijuana reform advocate NORML.

These are the 12 states smoking the most marijuana.