Education · the people
Who uses cannabis?
Cannabis users aren’t a stereotype. They’re your neighbors, coworkers, and grandparents. People of every age, profession, and political party: grandparents easing arthritis, veterans managing PTSD, nurses, teachers, retirees, and weekend hikers. The data is non-partisan, the support is bipartisan, and the real picture is far more mainstream (and more positive) than the old clichés.
Verified as of Jul 5, 2026. Figures are best treated as estimates; see the note below.
It’s for all kinds of people
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Chronic-pain patients
Adults living with persistent pain. This is by far the most common reason people qualify.
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Older adults
Seniors managing arthritis, sleep, and chronic illness (the fastest-growing group).
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Veterans
Service members easing PTSD and pain, often after other treatments fall short.
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Serious illness
People easing the nausea, pain, and appetite loss of cancer, MS, and end-stage conditions.
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People who can’t sleep
About one in ten U.S. adults reaches for cannabis as a sleep aid.
By the numbers
- 17.7M vs 14.7M Daily or near-daily cannabis users vs daily or near-daily drinkers in the US. In 2022, cannabis passed alcohol for the first time. Addiction (Caulkins), 2024
- 50% US adults who say they have tried marijuana, a record high Gallup, 2023
- 15% US adults who say they smoke marijuana, more than double 2013 Gallup, 2023–24
- 21% Adults 50 and older who used cannabis in the past year U-M Poll on Healthy Aging, 2024
- 92% Veteran households that support research into medical cannabis American Legion, 2017
- 80% Oncologists who have discussed medical cannabis with patients J. Clinical Oncology, 2018
- 54% US marijuana consumers who are parents Yahoo/Marist Poll, 2017
- ~88% Americans who support legal medical access Pew, 2026
- ~70% Americans who support legalizing cannabis overall Gallup, record high
- 3.7M+ Registered US medical patients, a known undercount MPP, 2026
- ≈35,000 Georgians on the state Low-THC Oil Registry as SB 220 took effect Fox 5 Atlanta, 2026
- ~1 in 10 US adults who currently use cannabis as a sleep aid Nat. Sleep Foundation, 2026
Not who you’d expect
An astronomer. A president from Plains, Georgia. A Republican Speaker of the House. A poet, a neurosurgeon, a knight of the realm, a Navy veteran, and America’s best-known homemaker. The people who have used cannabis, or worked to destigmatize it, look nothing like the stereotype. Each connection is documented at the linked source; none of these people are affiliated with this site.
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Carl Sagan
Astronomer, host of Cosmos
Wrote the anonymous “Mr. X” essay praising cannabis in the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered, a secret revealed only after his death.
“the illegality of cannabis is outrageous”
The Mr. X essay · photo: NASA/JPL, public domain
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Jimmy Carter
39th President, from Plains, Georgia
In his 1977 Drug Abuse Message to Congress, he asked lawmakers to end all federal criminal penalties for possessing up to an ounce of marijuana.
“Penalties against possession of a drug should not be more damaging to an individual...”
American Presidency Project · photo: US Navy, public domain
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John Boehner
Former Republican Speaker of the House
Once “unalterably opposed” to legalization, he joined the board of a cannabis company in 2018.
“My thinking on cannabis has evolved”
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Maya Angelou
Poet and memoirist
Wrote openly about smoking marijuana as a young mother in her 1974 memoir Gather Together in My Name.
“for the first time, life amused me”
The Spokesman-Review · photo: York College ISLGP, CC BY 2.0
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Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Neurosurgeon, CNN chief medical correspondent
Publicly reversed his opposition to medical marijuana in 2013 after a year of research for his documentary Weed.
“We have been terribly and systematically misled”
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Sir Patrick Stewart
Actor, Star Trek’s Captain Picard
Uses doctor-recommended cannabis products for the arthritis in his hands, and backed Oxford University’s cannabinoid research program in 2017.
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Montel Williams
Navy veteran and talk-show host
Living with multiple sclerosis, he went to Capitol Hill in 2004 to press Congress to protect medical marijuana patients.
“I’ll smoke a little pot and stay alive”
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Whoopi Goldberg
EGOT-winning actor and host
Uses medical cannabis for glaucoma and co-founded a company built around cannabis products for menstrual pain.
“I’ve always been in favor of cannabis.”
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Rick Steves
Public-television travel host
The PBS travel guide has served for years on NORML’s board and personally funds state legalization campaigns.
“Our country’s outdated marijuana laws are tragic, costly, and counterproductive.”
RickSteves.com · photo: CarlosManzanoPHOTOs, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Morgan Freeman
Academy Award-winning actor
Says cannabis is the only thing that relieves the fibromyalgia pain left by his severe 2008 car crash.
“the only thing that offers any relief is marijuana”
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Melissa Etheridge
Grammy-winning musician
Used medical marijuana through chemotherapy for breast cancer and wrote about the experience for CNN.
“I have been a medicinal marijuana smoker for nine years now.”
CNN Opinion · photo: Greg Hernandez, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Al Harrington
16-season NBA veteran
Founded the cannabis company Viola, named for his grandmother, whose glaucoma pain eased with cannabis and let her read her Bible again.
Rolling Stone · photo: Keith Allison, CC BY-SA 2.0
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Martha Stewart
Lifestyle icon and businesswoman
Developed her own line of CBD gummies, softgels, and oils with Canopy Growth in 2020.
Canopy Growth · photo: David Shankbone, CC BY 2.0
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What patients use it for
Share of patient-reported qualifying conditions among 4.13 million enrolled patients, U.S. (2022).
Annals of Internal Medicine (2024)
Worth knowing
Seniors are the fastest-growing group
Past-month cannabis use among adults 65+ rose to about 7% in 2023, up from under 5% in 2021: a striking jump concentrated among older adults managing chronic illness.
Veterans turn to it often
About 22% of veterans report using cannabis for a medical condition, and among veteran users roughly 41% describe their use as medical, about double the rate of adults overall.
Read the numbers with care
State registries aren’t standardized and some states (like California) have no mandatory registry, so every national total is an estimate. The true number using cannabis medically is higher than any registered count.
Bottom line: a large, growing, and remarkably ordinary cross-section of Americans uses cannabis as medicine, and about nine in ten support their right to do so. If you think it might help you, talk with a licensed Georgia provider.