Drinking, Tobacco Use Goes Down, Cannabis Use Rises

New report shows rising marijuana use alongside lower alcohol and tobacco consumption.

Americans are drinking less alcohol, smoking fewer cigarettes, and using more marijuana, according to a new national report on drug use and mental health. The latest findings show changes in how people are using different substances, with marijuana standing out as the drug more people are using heavily compared to previous years. At the same time, fewer people seem to be having trouble with alcohol, and tobacco use continues to fall.

The report comes from a yearly government survey that tracks trends in mental health and drug use (including alcohol and tobacco use) across the country. In this edition, nearly 17 out of every 100 people met the official definition for having a problem related to drugs or alcohol. Alcohol was still the most common issue, followed by marijuana, and then opioids.

One surprising detail is that while marijuana use is growing, the number of people struggling with opioids has not gone up or down much in the last year. Around 1.7% of the population still met the standard for having an opioid problem. Meanwhile, people who struggle with stimulants like cocaine and meth made up around 3.1% of the population.

The number of people using marijuana heavily has gone up. More than 20 million people age 12 and older now meet the standard for having a marijuana-related issue. That’s up from about 6% of the population last year to just over 7% now. A marijuana use disorder doesn’t mean someone is addicted in every case, but it often includes using more than planned, having a hard time cutting back, or continuing to use even after facing problems because of it.

Photo by RDNE Stock project from Pexels

Even with the rise in marijuana use, the overall tone of the report stayed fairly positive. For example, the number of drug-related deaths in the U.S. has dropped. Right now, around 78,000 people die each year from drug overdoses, compared to over 110,000 deaths in the peak year of 2023. Fewer people are dying from fentanyl, but deaths from meth and other drugs are still a concern.

Another finding is that fewer young people between 12 and 17 reported having serious depression or thinking about suicide. Among adults, the rate of mental illness has stayed about the same. This part of the report offers a small but hopeful sign that fewer teens are reaching that point of crisis.

In terms of treatment, fewer people with opioid problems got help through medication than the year before. Only about 17% of those with an opioid disorder received help through methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone, down from 18% the year before. This is despite rule changes that were meant to make it easier to get these treatments. Past studies have shown that people who get help through these medications are less likely to die or have serious health problems.

The people behind the report also gave credit to staff who helped with it in past years but were laid off in a recent round of cuts to government health jobs. More than 10,000 health workers lost their jobs, and another 10,000 took buyouts and left. Many of them had worked on the yearly drug and mental health report.

Even with that backdrop, the new numbers help paint a picture of how Americans are changing their habits. Tobacco use is down. Binge drinking is down. Marijuana use is up. Opioid use is steady, but treatment rates are slipping. As the country continues to deal with the effects of drugs and mental health struggles, the changes in these numbers matter, not just to public health officials, but to every family facing these challenges.

Marijuana use rising in U.S., as tobacco use and binge drinking falls

Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health