Characteristics of New Marijuana Users

The NHSDA Report:  Characteristics of New Marijuana Users

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Highlights:

• In 2000, 2.4 million persons used marijuana for the first time.

• In 1998 and 1999, more than a quarter of marijuana initiates were age 14 or younger.  The average age was 17.

• Almost 60 percent of recent marijuana initiates in 1998 and 1999 had used both cigarettes and alcohol prior to using marijuana.

• Recent marijuana initiates who used marijuana for the first time before the age of 15 were more likely to have used marijuana before using cigarettes or alcohol than those who first used marijuana age at age 15 or older.

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This Short Report,  The NHSDA Report:  Characteristics of New Marijuana Users, is based on SAMHSA's  National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), conducted by the Office of Applied Studies (OAS) in the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  SAMHSA's National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) is the primary source of information on the prevalence, patterns, and consequences of drug and alcohol use and abuse in the general U.S. civilian non institutionalized population, age 12 and older.   The NHSDA also provides estimates for drug use by state.