The State of Marijuana Use Among Latinos

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Overuse of drugs, like marijuana, can heighten one’s risk for certain diseases, especially among disadvantaged populations such as Latinos.  

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released its annual report on the state of mental health and substance use in the US.  

Based on results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States covers mental health and substance use, including tobacco, alcohol, illicit drugs, and more. 

In part three of our series, we’re going to explore the report and find out how the use of marijuana impacts Latinos.  

Marijuana Use among Latinos 

Marijuana can be consumed in many forms. 

These include smoking, vaping, dabbing waxes, shatter, or concentrates, eating or drinking, putting drops, strips, lozenges, or sprays in their mouths or underneath their tongue, applying location, cream, or patches to their skin, taking pills, and more. 

Being mindful that more than half of the US population live in states where marijuana use is legalized, 43.6 million (15.4%) reportedly used marijuana within the span of a month, including 5.6% or 15.8 million who vaped marijuana.  

Marijuana consumption was higher among younger populations with 8.6 million (25.2%) and 1.6 million (6%) adolescents using the substance.  

In individuals 12 to 17 that use marijuana, 25.2% are American Indian and Alaska Native, 24.2% are Multiracial, 18.1% are Black, 16.3% are White, 12.4% are Latino, and 5.8% are Asian.  

However past year users in the same age group consisted of 63.3% Asian, 88.1% Black, 84.1% Multiracial, 79.7% Latino, and 73.9% White individuals who consume marijuana.  

Within a month, 12.6% or 4.3 million people aged 18 to 25, 4.7% or 10.5 million adults 26 and older, and 3.7% or 959,000 adolescents used vaping to consume marijuana.  

In the month period, vaping marijuana was more prevalent among Multiracial individuals (10.1%) followed by White (6.3%), American Indian or Alaska Native (5.7%), Latino (5.3%), Black (3.5%), Asian individuals (2%).  

This past year, 22.4% Black, 43.5% Latino, 40.8% Multiracial, 40.4% White, and 39.5% Asian individuals vaped.  

When using marijuana, 77% or 47.6 million preferred smoking, compared to eating or drinking (48.3% or 29.8 million), vaping (38.3% or 23.7 million), dabbing (16% or 9.9 million), topical (7.8% or 4.8 million), drops (5.5% or 3.4 million), and pills (3.3% or 2 million).  

84.4% young adults, 79.3% adolescents, and 74.9% of adults aged 26 and older who use marijuana preferred smoking.  

Among marijuana users between 12 and 17, 63.4% preferred vaping, 38.5% ate or drank it, and 16.9% dabbed or used another similar method.  

In individuals 18 to 25, 52.2% vaped, 49.9% ate or drank it, and 27.9% dabbed while 48.5% of marijuana users 26 and older ate or drank it, 33% vaped, and 12.8% dabbed.  

In the past year, 54% Asian, 51.6% White, and 50.4% Multiracial individuals who consume marijuana did so by eating or drinking it followed by 45.5% Latino and 35.7% Black individuals.  

Multiracial individuals (20.8%) were more likely than Latino (19.7%), White (16.5%), Asian (9.6%), and Black individuals (9%) to consume marijuana via dabbing or another similar method. 

When considering new marijuana users, 3.5 million out of 43.6 million users started in the past year, led by 12- to 17-year-olds and 18- to 25-year-olds at 1.2 million, respectively. 

Does Your Community’s Make the Grade?  

How can we improve public health? 

Start by examining the health equity in your own backyard. 

Download a free Health Equity Report Card from Salud America! today to see where your community stands on access to healthy foods, exposure to harmful toxins and chemicals, poverty, education, and more. 

Use the helpful maps, charts, and graphs to identify issues and guide your community toward health equity.  

The information can be compared to the rest of your state or the country.  

Share it on social media, with friends and loved ones, and/or your local community leaders and fight for health equity where you live! 

GET YOUR HEALTH EQUITY REPORT CARD!