Marijuana use in the United States has grown over 100% since 2000, but at the same time, so have problems related to marijuana, including addiction, according to recently reported research. It was found that over 9.5% of adults in the United States used marijuana in 2013 compared to 4.1% between 2001 and 2002. It seems as if more Americans are becoming more open to cannabis; a recent Gallup survey showed that 58% of Americans are in favor of legalizing marijuana, which is the highest approval rating the country has ever had.
“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,” is what was written in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Psychiatry. “While not all marijuana users experience problems, nearly three of 10 marijuana users manifested a marijuana use disorder in 2012-2013.”
That equates to approximately 6.8 million Americans, the journal wrote. It seems that that would be an even bigger problem for younger smokers.
“When examined by age, young adults were at highest risk for marijuana use disorder in both surveys. Clearly, concerns about this age group continue, with prevention and intervention efforts for this group critically needed.” They also said that African-Americans are more likely to use marijuana than white people are.
It has become evident that legal changes have swayed the attitude of the public towards cannabis and its products; now, four states have legalized recreational and twenty-three states have approved of medical marijuana. However, even then, sometimes people misidentify marijuana as completely innocuous.
“Further, fewer Americans view marijuana use as risky, although studies have shown that use or early use of marijuana is associated with increased risk for many outcomes, including cognitive decline, psychosocial impairments, vehicle crashes, emergency department visits, psychiatric symptoms, poor quality of life, use of other drugs, a cannabis withdrawal syndrome, and addiction risk,” they added.
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