In the run-up to the 2022 election, Pennsylvania Republican senatorial candidate and television personality Mehmet Oz suggested that marijuana use causes people to become lazy and that legalization could lead to higher unemployment. “We need to get Pennsylvanians back at work,” Oz said. “Gotta give them their mojo, and I don’t want marijuana to be a hindrance to that.”
Oz’s comments played into a historical stereotype that casts marijuana users in a certain light. However, marijuana users come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and many boast high levels of achievement in academia and in the workplace.
Reason Foundation recently acquired detailed, granular survey data detailing various demographic parameters and use patterns of thousands of marijuana users. This data is compiled by data analytics firm New Frontier Data, which conducted this large annual survey of over 4,600 adults across all 50 states in 2022. The New Frontier survey makes clear that there is a wide diversity of marijuana users across employment statuses, career levels, educational attainment, political alignments, and several other variables.
Political Alignment
An analysis of survey data from Gallup polls shows that, since 2003, Democrats have been more likely than Republicans to say that marijuana should be legalized. One might assume, then, that most marijuana users identify as left-leaning, and those who lean right are less likely to use marijuana.
However, New Frontier’s survey data uncover a contrast—or actually, a lack of one: While more Democrats tell Gallup marijuana should be legalized, the usage rates and frequency of marijuana use by those who identify as right-leaning and left-leaning are relatively similar, according to the New Frontier survey.
Interestingly, a greater proportion of self-identified “strongly right” political leaners consumed marijuana multiple times per day (39.0%) than those who aligned themselves as “strongly left” political leaners (30.4%), according to New Frontier Data. About 70% of “strongly right” individuals consume marijuana at least weekly, while only 64.5% of “strongly left” individuals consume cannabis weekly. Among those who describe themselves as “apolitical,” 65.8% consume marijuana at least weekly. Self-described moderates have the lowest use rates, with 57.1% of those saying they’re “moderately left” and 58.0% of those saying they’re “moderately right” consuming at least weekly.
Educational Attainment
The New Frontier survey data also show an interesting trend between marijuana use and educational attainment. Use rates are highest among individuals who never attended college and those with advanced degrees. Among users with advanced degrees, 63.6% report consuming marijuana at least weekly, while 70.7% of respondents with no college experience consume weekly. Among individuals who have attended some college or hold a two-year or four-year college degree, only 60.0% consume marijuana at least weekly, according to New Frontier.
Users who have never attended college are far more likely than other groups to consume marijuana multiple times per day. Among those who did not complete high school, 51.0% use marijuana multiple times per day, while 43.8% of high school graduates without college experience do so. Still, a significant proportion of those with advanced degrees consume multiple times daily, at 22.8%.
Household Income
As with other intoxicating substances, households with lower incomes tend to use marijuana more frequently, according to New Frontier Data. Among households earning less than $25,000 annually, for instance, 40.1% of users report using marijuana multiple times daily, and 66.4% report using marijuana at least weekly. The proportion of users who consume multiple times daily declines in near-perfect correlation with income bracket, although weekly use remains relatively stable across income brackets. Among households earning $200,000 to $225,000 annually, 62.8% of users report consuming at least weekly, while only 20.1% consume multiple times per day.
More than half of marijuana users in every income grouping report consuming at least weekly. Even among the highest-earning households—those earning more than $225,000 annually—18.0% of users report consuming multiple times per day. By contrast, only 15.1% of respondents from this income group indicated they consume less frequently than once per year.
Career Level
Marijuana users at advanced career levels consume marijuana much more frequently than users at lower career levels, New Frontier finds. Among business owners, 86.5% report using marijuana at least weekly, while 88.5% of executives do so. Only 64.3% of their marijuana-consuming interns and 58.0% of junior staff, however, consume at least weekly.
A similar story could be told for the most frequent use category. Only 25% of marijuana-using interns consume more than once daily, while 48.5% of business owners and 43.2% of C-suite executives report consuming more than once per day. Company owners and executives reported using marijuana more frequently than every other career level below them. These figures demonstrate that heavy marijuana users can also be high achievers, counter to many stereotypes.
Urbanicity
A typical assumption is that heavy marijuana users are predominantly concentrated in urban environments. However, New Frontier Data’s survey reveals that heavy cannabis use is also prevalent in suburban and rural areas as well. Among urban consumers, 71.8% report consuming at least weekly. For both suburban and rural consumers, that ratio is 58.5%.
Suburban users are least likely to consume multiple times per day, at 26.1%. By contrast, 33.3% of rural users and 39.0% of urban users report consuming multiple times per day.
Conclusion
Marijuana users come from all different backgrounds and are not restricted to a particular political affiliation, education level, income bracket, career position, or location. Some of the most frequent use occurs among those with the most strongly held political convictions—regardless of persuasion—and among those who have achieved the highest levels of career advancement, New Frontier Data’s survey shows. Holders of advanced degrees also tend to consume slightly more frequently than holders of four-year degrees.
At the same time, users from low-earning households tend to consume more frequently than users from higher-earning households. Users who never attended college tend to consume more frequently than those who have.
There is a wide range of profiles for marijuana use. While marijuana users may have historically been subject to stereotypes, survey data on use across different demographics may dispel these notions and reveal some interesting trends.