Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders in the United States Between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013 - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2015 Dec;72(12):1235-42.

doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.1858.

Tulshi D Saha 2, Bradley T Kerridge 3, Risë B Goldstein 2, S Patricia Chou 2, Haitao Zhang 2, Jeesun Jung 2, Roger P Pickering 2, W June Ruan 2, Sharon M Smith 2, Boji Huang 2, Bridget F Grant 2

Affiliations

Prevalence of Marijuana Use Disorders in the United States Between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013

Deborah S Hasin et al. JAMA Psychiatry. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Importance: Laws and attitudes toward marijuana in the United States are becoming more permissive but little is known about whether the prevalence rates of marijuana use and marijuana use disorders have changed in the 21st century.

Objective: To present nationally representative information on the past-year prevalence rates of marijuana use, marijuana use disorder, and marijuana use disorder among marijuana users in the US adult general population and whether this has changed between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013.

Design, setting, and participants: Face-to-face interviews conducted in surveys of 2 nationally representative samples of US adults: the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (data collected April 2001-April 2002; N = 43,093) and the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions-III (data collected April 2012-June 2013; N = 36,309). Data were analyzed March through May 2015.

Main outcomes and measures: Past-year marijuana use and DSM-IV marijuana use disorder (abuse or dependence).

Results: The past-year prevalence of marijuana use was 4.1% (SE, 0.15) in 2001-2002 and 9.5% (SE, 0.27) in 2012-2013, a significant increase (P < .05). Significant increases were also found across demographic subgroups (sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, income, urban/rural, and region). The past-year prevalence of DSM-IV marijuana use disorder was 1.5% (0.08) in 2001-2002 and 2.9% (SE, 0.13) in 2012-2013 (P < .05). With few exceptions, increases in the prevalence of marijuana use disorder between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013 were also statistically significant (P < .05) across demographic subgroups. However, the prevalence of marijuana use disorder among marijuana users decreased significantly from 2001-2002 (35.6%; SE, 1.37) to 2012-2013 (30.6%; SE, 1.04).

Conclusions and relevance: The prevalence of marijuana use more than doubled between 2001-2002 and 2012-2013, and there was a large increase in marijuana use disorders during that time. While not all marijuana users experience problems, nearly 3 of 10 marijuana users manifested a marijuana use disorder in 2012-2013. Because the risk for marijuana use disorder did not increase among users, the increase in prevalence of marijuana use disorder is owing to an increase in prevalence of users in the US adult population. Given changing laws and attitudes toward marijuana, a balanced presentation of the likelihood of adverse consequences of marijuana use to policy makers, professionals, and the public is needed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures: None reported.

Comment in

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Cerdá M, Wall M, Keyes KM, Galea S, Hasin D. Medical marijuana laws in 50 states: investigating the relationship between state legalization of medical marijuana and marijuana use, abuse and dependence. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2012;120(1–3):22–27. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wall MM, Poh E, Cerdá M, Keyes KM, Galea S, Hasin DS. Adolescent marijuana use from 2002 to 2008: higher in states with medical marijuana laws, cause still unclear. Ann Epidemiol. 2011;21(9):714–716. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hasin DS, Wall M, Keyes KM, et al. Medical marijuana laws and adolescent marijuana use in the USA from 1991 to 2014: results from annual, repeated cross-sectional surveys. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015;2(7):601–608. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saad L. Majority continues to support pot legalization in US. [Accessed June 8, 2015];Gallup. http://www.gallup.com/poll/179195/majority-continues-support-pot-legaliz.... Published November 6, 2014.
    1. Johnston LD, Miech RA, O’Malley PM, Bachman JG, Schulenberg JE. Use of alcohol, cigarettes, and number of illicit drugs declines among US teens. [Accessed June 8, 2015]; http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/14data.html#2014data-drugs. Published December 16, 2014.

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources