Overview
- SAMHSA’s 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released Monday, found 21.4 million Americans used marijuana daily or nearly every day compared with 19.9 million daily cigarette users and 17.2 million daily alcohol users.
- The shift reflects changing patterns since 2021 with daily tobacco and alcohol use falling while daily cannabis use rose, with reports noting roughly a 28% drop for tobacco, a 24% drop for alcohol, and a 21% rise for daily marijuana users.
- Use patterns vary by age: youth measures fell with lower past-month drug and alcohol use for people 12 to 17, while adults 26 and older showed the largest increases in daily cannabis use.
- Federal policy moves are running in parallel to the survey results: President Donald J. Trump’s December 2025 order and a Justice Department action in early 2026 shifted certain FDA-approved or state-regulated marijuana products toward Schedule III but did not legalize marijuana at the federal level.
- The report also shows high lifetime exposure to substances (82.9%), a rise in daily nicotine vaping to about 17.5 million users, and has prompted debate about public health, criminal penalties, and how reclassification could affect research and enforcement.