People, Fun, Positive Emotion, Young Adult, Lifestyles
Cigarettes seem less appealing to young Americans, who prefer to use marijuana or vaping e-cigarettes, according to new data published by Gallup.
The American research firm released this week new data on cigarette consumption among young adult Americans between the ages of 18 and 29.
Cigarette consumption among young adults has fallen from 35% to 12% in the last two decades, as more than twice as many young adults now say they smoke marijuana as they smoke cigarettes.
"This 23-percentage-point decline among young adults is more than double that of any other age group over that time. As a result of these changes, young adults have moved from the group most likely to smoke cigarettes to the second-least likely, with a rate higher than only the oldest Americans," the report reads.
Both vaping and marijuana have become more common activities for young adults.
The data show, in fact, a shift from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes and marijuana.
The decline in smoking cigarettes among young adults coincides with the increase in the use of marijuana and e-cigarettes.
Between 2019 and 2022, an average of 26% of young adults reported smoking marijuana, compared to 17% between 2013 and 2015.
But e-cigarettes are also replacing traditional cigarettes among young adults as 15% of the age group between 18 and 29 prefer to smoke only e-cigarettes, while 8% smoke only traditional cigarettes.
Overall, 27% of the U.S. population surveyed by Gallup smoke cigarettes, e-cigarettes, or marijuana.
But the age group between 18 and 29 prefers smoking only marijuana (9%), followed by those who vape e-cigarettes (7%), while only 3% of the interviewed reported smoking only cigarettes.
Smoking marijuana has also increased among adults between the age group between 30 and 64, while it remained stable among seniors.
Gallup's report states that young adults are increasingly smoking marijuana, "perhaps because it is now legal to use in a growing number of states, and vaping."
At first glance, this analysis could be confirmed by recent studies that have found an increase in marijuana use in those states where recreational marijuana sale has been regulated.
In August, a study published in the journal Addiction showed that people living in legal marijuana states consume it 20% more often than those living in states where it's illegal.
However, consumption in those U.S. states that haven't regulated the legal market may be challenging to track the actual consumption because of the lack of official data. But even legal marijuana states may be unable to track the overall marijuana consumption as the illegal market still thrives.
The consumption of marijuana through vaping devices was also reported among teenagers last year in a study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, which showed that marijuana vaping use has doubled among teenagers in the last seven years.
However, several factors may have contributed to the decrease in tobacco consumption and the increase in marijuana use among young adults, including the years-long anti-tobacco campaigns, a shift in the methods to use marijuana, and the advocacy efforts to destigmatize the plant.
Although marijuana for recreational use is still illegal at the federal level, more than 21 U.S. states have legalized marijuana in the last ten years.
Therefore, the normalization of the use of marijuana may have contributed to the increase in its use among young adults in a short-term period.
The annual U.S. survey of substance use published in August 2022 showed that daily marijuana use reached "the highest levels ever recorded since these trends were first monitored in 1988."
The survey confirmed the Gallup analysis as it highlighted how e-cigarettes use increased significantly among young adults in 2021 despite diminishing in 2020 during the earlier months of the COVID-19 pandemic and also shows a prevalence of marijuana vaping in the past month among young adults.
