More People Are Smoking Weed These Days Than Cigarettes, Poll Shows

A poll has revealed that, for the first time, more people are smoking marijuana than cigarettes.

It looks like people are turning in that gasper for some Mary Jane. According to a Gallup poll, more people in the United States are rolling up and puffin’ on a joint than cigarettes. The country has seen a decline in cigarette smokers for the last few decades.

In 2005, about 20.5 percent of U.S. citizens smoked cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The number dropped to 12.5 percent by 2020. However, about 30.8 million adults still light up a cigarette. In 2018, more people became interested in less harmful options.

But, when it comes to weed, Americans are taking up a new preference: smoking marijuana. Today, 16 percent of Americans smoke marijuana, with 48 percent saying they’ve tried at one point in their lives, NPR reports. Back in 1969, only 4 percent of Americans were getting on high on that grass, while 91 percent of the participants in the poll said they wished they had never started smoking cigarettes.

“Smoking cigarettes is clearly on the decline and is most likely to become even more of a rarity in the years ahead,” Gallup Senior Scientist Dr. Frank Newport said. “This reflects both public awareness of its negative effects and continuing government efforts at all levels to curtail its use.”