Gallup Poll Finds That More Americans Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes

The polling company Gallup released a new opinion survey about American’s views towards marijuana and tobacco. For people who remember how ubiquitous cigarettes and smoking tobacco used to be in public areas of the U.S., and how stigmatized almost any form of drug use was, it would be shocking for them to learn that out of the Americans polled by Gallup, more of them reported being hobby pot smokers over tobacco.

According to Gallup, 11% of American adults asked said they were cigarette smokers, while 16% self-reported that they smoked marijuana. Rates for alcohol use were much higher than either of these numbers, with about 43% of Americans saying they’ve had a drink in the past week.

Gallup also added that 48% of adults reported having at least tried marijuana at some point, and the majority of self-reported weed smokers skewed young and were within the 18-34 age range. With more options to get high than before, Gallup also polled Americans about consuming pot-infused edibles, with 14% saying they consume those too. 5% of marijuana non-smokers even use edibles, so as more states legalize it, use will slightly increase even with those that don’t have an interest in smoking.

The pollers also released a poll last year that said 68% of Americans supported federal legalization of the drug.

Pot decriminalization was a promise Joe Biden made on the campaign trail, though he always declined to support broad marijuana legalization. His administration is facing mounting pressure to follow through on his promise as midterm elections approach.

Biden finally granted clemency to 75 people in April of 2022 who had non-violent federal drug convictions, but some felt it was a hollow action two years into his presidency.

When questioned about pot decriminalization recently in a press briefing, Biden’s Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “He’s going to continue to evaluate further uses of his clemency powers,” and “as it relates to marijuana decriminalization, we just don’t have anything at this time.”