By Stefan Yablonski
A 2025 national survey found that regular marijuana use surpassed cigarette smoking in the United States, with 43.8 million adults using marijuana versus 36.1 million smoking cigarettes.
Alcohol remains the most widely consumed substance, the survey added.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 43.8 million Americans (ages 12 and up) used marijuana regularly, compared to 36.1 million Americans who smoked cigarettes.
Marijuana use was highest among adults 18 to 25 (8.4 million people), while cigarette use was highest among adults 26 and up (32.2 million people), the survey said.
Smoking was the most common mode of marijuana use, followed by edibles, vaping, dabs, waxes and concentrates, the study found. In addition to cigarettes, 29.3 million Americans (ages 12 and up) reported regular nicotine vaping usage.
The report represents the earliest release of NSDUH to the public in the survey’s history, reflecting SAMHSA’s commitment to advancing gold-standard science and data-driven policy, program, and practice innovation,” said Christopher D. Carroll, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration principal deputy assistant secretary statement.
“As a public health department, we pay close attention to changes in substance use patterns in our communities. However, it’s also important to note how the information is presented,” according to Oswego County Public Health Director Vera Dunsmoor.
If you include cigarettes and nicotine vaping, the numbers are a bit different.
For example, the data shown in the referenced report separates those who used a tobacco product from those who vaped nicotine, even though both represent forms of nicotine use, she pointed out.
“This really means that 26.3% of people used some form of nicotine vs 21.2% of people who used marijuana during the reported year,” she said. “So, while it looks like regular marijuana use has surpassed cigarette smoking, that is not the same thing as saying that regular marijuana use has surpassed all tobacco use.”
In either case, both nicotine and cannabis use remain a significant public health concern, Dunsmoor added.
“With changes in state laws, marijuana use has become more common in recent years, making it a top priority to prevent normalizing its use in a person’s daily life,” she said. “We continue working to educate people about the health risks associated with each product. Our goal is to provide accurate, evidence-based information people can understand to help them make healthy decisions.”
The survey didn’t point to why marijuana use surpassed cigarette use in 2025. However, the findings come as more states legalize medical and recreational marijuana.
Forty-one states have legalized medical marijuana and 24 states have legalized recreational use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Medical and recreational marijuana are both legal in Washington, DC.
“With legalization, normalization and dispensaries in New York multiplying as we speak — any time you increase access, you increase use,” said Jennifer Faringer, director, DePaul’s National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence, Rochester Area.
“We at Farnham have definitely seen that public perception of harm has shifted at the sociological level when compared to the perception of harm connected with tobacco-nicotine products,” said Christopher Baszto, executive director, Farnham Family Services in Oswego. “Recent legalization movements may be contributing to this, especially the discourse around the positive and negative effects of cannabis/marijuana on mental health when compared to the decades-long conversation and public health efforts related to the harms of tobacco/nicotine products.”
Farnham is here to support individuals who may find their relationship to cannabis/marijuana problematic in their lives and recognize that the dynamics of addiction do not discriminate between substances, despite the ever-changing shifts in perception of harm or legalization status, he added.
Despite marijuana’s growing popularity, the substance still hasn’t touched alcohol.
In 2025, 129.1 million Americans aged 12 and up currently drank alcohol, according to the 2025 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Of that figure, 44% were monthly binge drinkers.
For men, binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks on one day in the past 30 days. For women, binge drinking is four or more drinks on one day in the past 30 days.
Around 60,000 Americans were interviewed for the latest edition of the annual survey, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
It provides a national snapshot of behavioral health in the United States based on self-reported responses from more than 60,000 people.
A key focus of the annual report is examining trends in substance use and mental health among the U.S. population from 2021-25.