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This Is the State With the Most Residents Using Marijuana: A Ranking of All 50 States

This Is the State With the Most Residents Using Marijuana: A Ranking of All 50 States

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If you use marijuana, aka cannabis, whether you smoke it, eat it, or use it as a medicinal extract, you are breaking the law. Federal law, that is. Despite the liberalizing actions of most of the 50 states in recent years, the federal government still defines cannabis as a Schedule 1 narcotic, just like cocaine and heroin.

Fortunately for the multitudes of Americans who do partake — about 132 million residents reported that they had used marijuana at least once in their lifetime as of 2022 — the Feds have other things on their minds these days, and they seem content to allow each state to set its own rules while bills are proposed in Congress to do away with the federal proscription.

As it is in so many things, California was the first state to legalize marijuana, originally strictly for medical use, back in 1996. Colorado and Washington broke ground by legalizing it for recreational use, but not until 2012. Today it remains fully illegal in only five states — Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming — while another 14 still restrict it to medical use only, or allow it only in the form of CBDs containing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. (CBDs with barely measurable THC content — the amount varies by state and sometimes locally — are fully or conditionally legal everywhere in America.) Just to confuse things, some jurisdictions within various states have their own rules, so cannabis may be illegal in some cities or counties within legal states and vice versa. (Here’s an up-to-date state-by-state look at marijuana laws.)

To compile a list of states with the most (and fewest) residents using marijuana in some form, 24/7 Tempo reviewed data from 2022, the latest year for which it is available, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. SAMHSA conducted a survey of about 70,000 Americans who were 18 and older that year, publishing it this February. (Bear in mind, though, that according to the CDC, “Cannabis use incidence in the US has traditionally peaked between ages 15 and 17 with steady declines as each cohort gets older,” so the statistics here probably greatly underestimate actual use.)

It probably won’t come as a surprise that a state known for its counterculture attitudes, Vermont, recorded the highest adult cannabis consumption in 2022, with more than a third of its residents reporting its use, and that another state similarly inclined, Oregon, was No. 3. That the District of Columbia came between the two in second place might be a little more unexpected.

Two states where medical marijuana is accepted but its possession is not otherwise decriminalized, Alabama and Utah, reported the lowest use — but about a fifth of the residents of two states where cannabis is still fully illegal, Kansas and Indiana, enjoyed it anyway.

Here is the list of the states with the most (and fewest) residents using cannabis:

51. Alabama

Source: iip-photo-archive / Flickr
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 13.89%

50. Utah

Source: ferrantraite / E+ via Getty Images
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 15.15%

49. Texas

Source: PeopleImages.com - Yuri A / Shutterstock.com
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 15.46%

48. Mississippi

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 15.92%

47. Nebraska

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 16.43%

46. North Carolina

Source: michael_richardson / Flickr
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 16.5%

45. Kentucky

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 16.92%

44. South Carolina

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 16.99%

43. Wyoming

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 17.15%

42. South Dakota

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 17.24%

41. Arkansas

Source: dlewis33 / iStock via Getty Images
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 17.54%

40. Florida

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 17.83%

39. Idaho

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 18.21%

38. Tennessee

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 18.35%

37. Georgia

Source: JannHuizenga / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 18.41%

36. North Dakota

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 18.55%

35. Iowa

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 18.86%

34. Hawaii

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 18.95%

33. West Virginia

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 19.24%

32. Wisconsin

Source: MattGush / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 19.48%

31. Indiana

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 19.51%

30. Kansas

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 19.55%

29. Pennsylvania

Skyline of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from Schenley Park
Source: Christian Hinkle / Shutterstock.com
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.03%

28. New Jersey

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.23%

27. Virginia

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.26%

26. Louisiana

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.54%

25. Maryland

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.64%

24. New Hampshire

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.64%

23. Delaware

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 20.85%

22. Ohio

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 22.41%

21. Connecticut

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 23.02%

20. New York

Source: juandect / Flickr
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 23.11%

19. Minnesota

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 23.12%

18. Illinois

Source: nsolop / Flickr
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 23.44%

17. Missouri

Source: iip-photo-archive / Flickr
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 23.75%

16. California

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 23.96%

15. Arizona

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 25.06%

14. Oklahoma

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 26.3%

13. Rhode Island

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 26.74%

12. Michigan

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 26.86%

11. Montana

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 26.87%

10. Maine

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 27.21%

9. New Mexico

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 27.63%

8. Colorado

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 27.74%

7. Nevada

Source: frank_schulenburg / Flickr
  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 29.54%

6. Massachusetts

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 29.74%

5. Washington

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 30.7%

4. Alaska

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 32.45%

3. Oregon

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 32.8%

2. District of Columbia

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 33.44%

1. Vermont

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  • Share of residents who used cannabis regularly in 2022: 34.37%
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