Medical Marijuana Use Has Doubled In The U.S., Study From Department Of Veterans Affairs Officials Finds
A new study looking at data from a federally funded survey found that the prevalence of medical cannabis use more than doubled in the United States between 2013 and 2020, driven largely by state-level legalization.The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which has been conducted annually since 1971, added a question about medical marijuana in 2013, specifically asking whether any cannabis use within the past 12 months was recommended by a doctor. During the first year, 1.2 percent of respondents answered affirmatively. Seven years later, that figure had risen to 2.5 percent.
Other variables highlighted by the report as having significant associations with medical marijuana use included being aged 18 to 25, being male, never having married, having completed some college education and being uninsured.Such associations, however, do not mean those groups were more likely to have used medical cannabis, nor did they necessarily see greater increases in prevalence of use over the seven-year study period. The observed associations only mean those groups’ trends over time were the most statistically significant interactions with survey years.In terms of health insurance status, for example, the prevalence of medical marijuana use among uninsured people actually increased the slowest over the seven-year timeframe compared to other groups, including those on private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare or “other.” But the change over time was the least likely to be due to chance.
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