Marijuana is the No. 1 illicit drug of choice in Michigan, and by a variety of measures, marijuana use is increasing.
Consider:
- In 2014-15, 15% of Michiganders used marijuana at least once in the previous year, up from 12% in 2008-09, according to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
- About 10% of Michiganders used marijuana in the previous month in 2014-15, comapred to 7.5% in 2008-09, based on SAMSA estimates.
- Almost 220,000 Michigan patients had a medical marijuana card in 2016, a 76% increase from 2012.
- About 9.3% of all 2015 arrests in Michigan involved marijuana, up from 7% in 2008.
Michigan voters approved use of medical marijuana in 2008. There currently is a petition drive under way to put a proposal on the November 2018 ballot to legalize use of recreational marijuana in Michigan.
Below is a look at the available data about marijuana use in Michigan.
That data shows there are 218,556 patients with a medical marijuana card as of Sept. 30, 2016, plus 38,057 caretakers with a card so they can obtain marijuana for a designated patient. The number of patient cardholders has increased 76 percent since 2012, the data shows.
The big caveat about the above chart: The decline in 2014 reflects the initiation of a two-year registry program, meaning the 2014 numbers show only some cardholders because previous registrants did not have to re-register during that time period.
Montmorency County in the northeast Lower Peninsula has the highest rate of residents with a medical marijuana card and Ottawa County has the lowest. You can click on a county in this interactive map to see the underlying data.
New applications for medical marijuana cards increased 70% between 2012-13 and 2015-16. About 86% of the applications were approved, and it took about 12 days on average to process an application.
Michigan’s medical marijuana program brought in $9.8 million in renewal and application fees in fiscal 2016, and the program cost $5.3 million to administer.
About 80% of Michigan medical marijuana cards are granted to treat “severe and chronic pain.” The above chart shows the 9 most common qualifying conditions for medical marijuana cards. The percentages add up to more than 100 because some patients have more than one condition.
In fiscal 2016, a total of 1,759 physicians wrote medical marijuana prescriptions, up 23% from the previous year.
Michigan ranks 14th in percentage of residents age 12 and older who used marijuana in the past month, based on 2014-15 health surveys. Michigan had a prevalence rate of 10.1% compared to a national average of 8.3%.
In that ranking, Colorado had the highest percentage, 16.6%, followed by Vermont, Alaska, Maine and Rhode Island.
The lowest rate was in Iowa, at 4.8%, followed by Utah, Alabama, Mississippi and North Dakota.
About 11% of residents age 12 and older in Wayne County and the region formed by Genesee, Lapeer, Sanilac and St. Clair counties used marijuana at least once in previous month, according to 2012-14 health surveys. The lowest rate — 8% — was in Oakland County. You can see the results for any of the 10 regions in the state by clicking on this interactive map.
The 10 regions shown in this map:
- Region 1 — Upper Peninsula;
- Region 2 — Northern Lower Peninsula;
- Region 3 — Grand Rapids/Muskegon region;
- Region 4 — Southwest Michigan, including Kalamazoo;
- Region 5 — Mid-Michigan, including Lansing, Jackson, Saginaw and Bay City;
- Region 6 — Ann Arbor and Monroe areas;
- Region 7 — Macomb County;
- Region 8 — Oakland County;
- Region 9 — Wayne County;
- Region 10 — Flint and Port Huron areas.
About 10% of Michigan residents used marijuana in the previous month, according to the most recent health surveys, up from 7.3% in 2002-04.
This chart makes two points. One is the that young adults are, by far, the biggest users of marijuana.
But it also shows the increase in marijuana use is being drive by Michigan adults age 26 and older, according to health surveys.
This chart shows marijuana use by race among Americans age 12 and older, based surveys of more than 265,000 Americans in 2015.
It shows whites are more likely to have tried marijuana than blacks, Hispanics or Asians, but blacks and people of mixed race are more likely to have used pot at least once in the month before they were surveyed.
American men are more likely to have tried marijuana at least once, and are more frequent users than women, based on surveys of more than 265,000 Americans age 12 and older in 2015.
11. Adults with some college, but not a bachelor’s, most likely to use marijuana
The least and most educated Americans are less likely to use marijuana than those with some college, based on surveys of  Americans age 26 and older in 2015.
