US marijuana use doubles in a decade

NZ Herald 22 October 2015
Nearly one in 10 adults smokes marijuana in the US, a rate that has more than doubled in the past decade as laws and attitudes about pot relax, researchers said.

However, experts warned that the rise in marijuana use has also been accompanied by an increase in abuse and dependence.

“Based on the results of our surveys, marijuana use in the United States has risen rapidly over the past decade, with about three in 10 people who use marijuana meeting the criteria for addiction,” said George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

“Given these increases, it is important that the scientific community convey information to the public about the potential harms.”

Researchers found that 9.5 per cent of adults in the United States smoke marijuana, according to the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry.

That has risen from a rate of 4.1 per cent in 2001-2002.
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