45% Of Americans Have Tried Pot, A New High, Poll Finds

The number of people in the United States who have tried pot is at an all-time high since 1969, according to a recent poll conducted by Gallup.

The results of a poll conducted by the organization published Wednesday revealed 45 percent of Americans stated that they had tried marijuana at least once. According to Gallup, this is the highest percentage in the history of the annual poll that started in 1969.

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In 1969, only four percent said "yes" when they were asked the question: “Have you yourself, ever happened to try marijuana?”

This year, 1,021 adults, aged 18 and older were surveyed, and only 12 percent said they currently smoked marijuana. This percentage of people has nearly doubled since the question was first asked in 2013. This means one in eight people currently smoke marijuana in the U.S.

When divided into sub-groups, young adults, men and those with household incomes of less than $30,000 per year are most likely to say they smoke marijuana while 42 percent of the poll participants from the group say they have tried pot, the common slang used for marijuana.

As per the poll, 13 percent of men said they smoke pot, compared to 7 percent of women. Eighteen percent of those aged 18 to 29 said they were smokers of cannabis while 38 percent said they had tried it. Those in the 30-to-49 age range (51 percent) are most likely to have tried the drug, followed closely by those aged 50 to 64 (49 percent).

The poll also draws the conclusion: “Marijuana was more popular among Generation X and baby boomers, who probably tried it when they were younger, than it is among millennials.”

In another poll conducted by CBS in April, it was revealed 61 percent of people in the United States thought marijuana use should be legal. Eighty-eight percent favor medical marijuana use. According to Gallup, support for legalization reached a majority for the first time in 2013, after Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. Since then, a majority of people in the country have been voicing the demand to legalize marijuana.

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According to the non-profit American Civil Liberties Union, between 2001 and 2010, there were 8.2 million marijuana related arrests in the county, and nearly 90 percent of them were for possession only. The results were published Wednesday in the wake of eight states, which make up one-fifth of the U.S. population, allowing recreational marijuana use. 29 states allow people to use marijuana for medical reasons. Legalization may confer a greater societal acceptance of the drug, Gallup said.

However, the possibility of federal crackdown on legal marijuana is also high, with Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcing late February the formation of a crime reduction task force that would review among other things existing federal policy on marijuana. The findings of this team are expected to be announced later this month. Referring to the remark, Gallup in the report said: “Sessions' hopes to prosecute state-level marijuana crimes may prove to be a hindrance, but it is unlikely this multibillion-dollar industry will be stopped anytime soon.”