- Marijuana use disorder is now the second-largest addiction in America, behind alcohol use disorder.
- Past-month substance use declined among 12- to 17-year-olds and 18- to 25-year-olds.
- Past-year suicide-related measures decreased for both youth and young adult age groups.
For the first time in history, daily marijuana use has surpassed daily cigarette smoking. Smart Approaches to Marijuana reported that there were “21.4 million daily marijuana users compared with 19.9 million daily cigarette smokers.”
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That assertion is based on information gathered from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Monday.
“Marijuana is on track to become America’s No. 1 addiction,” Kevin Sabet, the president and CEO of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said in the article.
The finding is similar to one regarding daily alcohol use published in 2024 in the journal Addiction and later cited by an Addiction Center article, which said that in 2022, an estimated 17.7 million people reported using marijuana daily or near-daily compared to 14.7 million daily or near-daily drinkers. “Historically, daily marijuana use hit an all-time low in 1992, with less than 1 million people responding to surveys stating they used marijuana ‘nearly every day,” per that article.
The just-released national survey data covers 2021 to 2025 on “how people living in the United States report their experience with mental health conditions, substance use and addiction, pursuit of treatment and recovery status,” according to a Monday press release from SAMHSA.
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SAM said marijuana use disorder is now the second-largest addiction in America, behind alcohol use disorder.
The SAMHSA press release identified marijuana as “the most commonly used illicit drug” in 2025, “with 21.2% of people aged 12 or older (or 61.6 million people) having used it in the past year.”
Downward and stable trends
Based on the self-reported responses of more than 60,000 participants, the administration reported declines and stability in many trends.
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For 12- to 17-year-olds, there were declines in:
- Past month tobacco, alcohol, binge drinking and marijuana use.
- Past year use of illicit drugs and marijuana.
- Past year initiation of alcohol use, nicotine vaping and marijuana use.
- Past year substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder and drug use disorder.
- Past year major depressive episode, major depressive episode with severe impairment, co-occurring major depressive episode and substance use disorder, co-occurring major depressive episode with severe impairment and substance use disorder.
- Past year serious thoughts of suicide, making a suicide plan and attempting suicide.
For 18- to 25-year-olds, the report highlighted declines in:
- Past month nicotine products, tobacco, cigarette, vaping, alcohol, binge drinking and marijuana use.
- Past year use of illicit drugs, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens and misuse of prescription stimulants, prescription tranquilizers or sedatives and prescription opioids.
- Past year initiation of nicotine vaping.
- Past year substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder.
- Past year major depressive episode, major depressive episode with severe impairment, co-occurring major depressive episode and substance use disorder, co-occurring major depressive episode with severe impairment and co-occurring substance use disorder, any mental illness, serious mental illness, co-occurring any mental illness and substance use disorder and co-occurring serious mental illness and substance use disorder.
- Past year serious thoughts of suicide, making a suicide plan and attempting suicide.