New Research Shocks Medical Marijuana Community

As the birthplace of widely accepted medical marijuana, California is often believed to be the “stoniest” state. After all, with more time to develop legal dispensary and prescription systems, it would make sense that the highest percentage of smokers would reside in this western state.

This is not the case, however, as new reports indicate that California ranks tenth on the chart of “most stoned” states. With 17 states prescribing legal medical marijuana, this means that nine of them are doing so at a higher rate than what is often considered “the hippy state.”

California holds 37.2 million people, 12.88 percent of whom are open marijuana smokers. This equals 4.4 million people, which is still the highest amount of smokers located in one state. Because of the Golden State's large population, however, this doesn't equal a very impressive percentage.

To put it another way, California has more marijuana smokers than Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire combined. All of these states hold a higher percentage of smokers, but do not rival California in per capita statistics.

Most New England states rank above California in the amount of medical marijuana users, but none of them top the chart. The state that takes number one may be a shock to many: Alaska. Despite Sarah Palin's brash conservatism, she hasn't been able to stop her state from becoming the medical marijuana capital of the country.

All of these statistics are based on research from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. In addition to these findings, researchers also found that the use of methamphetamine has dropped considerably. Whether or not this is related to the rise in marijuana use remains to be seen, but the facts are interesting when compared to one another.

The study also reported that of the 23 million U.S. citizens seeking treatment, only around 3 million are actually getting it. This suggests that the need for medical marijuana acceptance is greater than ever. Despite increased use, there are still patients being denied the medicine they need. Hopefully we will see the number of medical marijuana states rise from 17 to 50 in the near future.