Table 3.
Marijuana use characteristics by age group, 2015-2016a
| Characteristic | Age 50-64 with past-year marijuana useb (n=955) |
Age 65 and older with past-year marijuana useb (n=214) |
p-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical marijuana | |||
| Any marijuana use recommended by doctor in past 12 months | 15.0 (11.5, 19.4) | 22.9 (14.1, 34.9) | 0.11 |
| Age of initiation of marijuana use, years | |||
| <16 | 60.1 (55.7, 64.3) | 7.5 (4.5, 12.3) | <0.001 |
| 17-18 | 22.6 (19.1, 26.5) | 17.2 (11.3, 25.3) | |
| 19-21 | 10.3 (8.2, 12.8) | 30.0 (23.1, 37.9) | |
| >21 | 7.1 (5.1, 9.8) | 45.3 (36.1, 54.8) | |
|
Frequency of marijuana use in the past 12 months, in days |
|||
| 1 to 11 | 30.2 (27.1, 33.6) | 35.2 (29.0, 42.1) | 0.14 |
| 12 to 49 | 16.8 (14.6, 19.3) | 17.2 (11.4, 25.1) | |
| 50 to 99 | 12.2 (9.6, 15.3) | 6.4 (3.6, 11.3) | |
| 100 to 299 | 26.1 (22.8, 29.8) | 31.5 (22.6, 42.1) | |
| 300+ | 14.7 (12.4, 17.3) | 9.7 (5.6, 16.1) | |
| Perceived risk of cannabis use once a month | |||
| No risk | 51.6 (47.9, 55.2) | 59.4 (49.8, 68.3) | 0.19 |
| Slight risk | 34.5 (31.0, 38.1) | 31.9 (24.9, 40.0) | |
| Great/Moderate risk | 14.0 (11.3, 17.1) | 8.7 (4.7, 15.7) | |
| Perceived risk of cannabis use once or twice a week | |||
| No risk | 43.9 (40.8, 8.5) | 52.7 (42.3, 62.8) | 0.31 |
| Slight risk | 40.9 (37.0, 44.9) | 34.6 (25.3, 45.3) | |
| Great/Moderate risk | 15.3 (12.5, 18.4) | 12.7 (7.1, 21.8) |
a
Data from the 2015 and 2016 US National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
b
All percentages are weighted and percentages have been rounded and may not sum to 100; CI=Confidence interval