How U.S. Adults Use Marijuana: Smoking, Edibles, Vaping and Dabbing, 2022

Cannabis policies, products and patterns of use in the United States have changed rapidly. Cannabis remains a Schedule I substance under federal law, but as of April 2025, 39 states, three territories and the District of Columbia allowed it for state-defined medical conditions, and 24 states, two territories and D.C. allowed nonmedical adult use. The perceived risk of cannabis has fallen, products with higher concentrations of THC — its psychoactive compound — have become more intoxicating, and the ways people use it have multiplied. A CDC analysis of the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) looked at how adults use it. (The report was later corrected by an erratum; this page follows the corrected version.)

Why route matters

Smoking has historically been the most common way to use cannabis, but eating it, vaping it and dabbing — inhaling highly concentrated THC oils, often heated with a blowtorch — are increasingly common. Each carries its own risks: lung injury from contaminants in vaped products, acute psychosis from very concentrated THC when dabbing, and overconsumption with edibles.

The survey

BRFSS is an annual telephone survey of adults in every state, D.C. and three territories. In 2022, 22 states and two territories used a revised optional marijuana module that, for the first time since 2016, let respondents choose all the ways they had used marijuana in the past 30 days, as well as their main one. The analysis covered 138,625 adults.

Who uses marijuana

• 15.3% of respondents had used marijuana in the past 30 days, and 7.9% used it daily or nearly daily (20 or more times in 30 days).
• Use was highest among adults aged 18–24 (25.9% current, 13.4% daily), men (18.0% and 9.5%), multiracial adults (24.7% and 14.0%), American Indian and Alaska Native adults (20.7% and 14.0%) and adults with a high school diploma or less.
• Among women aged 49 or younger, use was lower among those who were pregnant than those who were not.

How they use it

Among current users:

Nearly half (46.7%) used two or more routes. Among them, the most common combinations were smoking and eating (55.2%) and smoking and vaping (54.5%).

CDC chart: combinations of routes among adults using marijuana in two or more ways, 2022.

Vaping and dabbing were most common among adults aged 18–24 (44.7% vaped and 28.4% dabbed). Dabbing was also more common among adults with less than a high school diploma (23.0%) and among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaska Native adults.

What it means

Compared with 2016 BRFSS data from 12 states, eating and vaping marijuana, and using several routes, were all more common in 2022 — which may reflect changing habits, or the different and larger sample. Either way, the authors note, each route carries distinct risks:

• Edibles: their wider availability has been linked to more accidental ingestion by children.
• Vaping and dabbing among young adults: exposure to high THC concentrations while the brain is still developing may raise the risk of cannabis use disorder, injury and acute psychosis. Vapes can contain harmful contaminants, as in the 2019 outbreak of lung injury linked to vitamin E acetate in some THC vapes, and dabbing with a blowtorch adds a risk of burns.

The authors call for public health messages tailored to each route — about contaminants in vapes, for instance, or high THC doses from edibles, vapes and dabs — and for continued surveillance of how often people use cannabis, how they use it, and how strong the products are.

Limitations

• The module was used in only some states and territories, so the results do not represent all U.S. adults.
• Self-reported answers may understate use.
• Questions about routes have not been asked consistently over time or places, so trends cannot be measured and comparisons with earlier years may reflect differences in sampling.

Sources

• Zerleen S. Quader, Douglas R. Roehler, Alana M. Vivolo-Kantor and Jean Y. Ko, "Routes of Marijuana Use — Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 22 U.S. States and Two Territories, 2022," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC, with its published erratum: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/74/wr/mm7412a1.htm
• The source gives the dabbing percentages for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults and for American Indian and Alaska Native adults one way in its results and the other way round in its discussion; this page states neither figure.