Substance use disorder fell from 16.7% to 15.3% since 2021 while monthly marijuana use rose to 15.1%
SAMHSA's 2025 survey of people 12 and older: substance use disorder 16.7% in 2021 and 15.3% in 2025, opioid use disorder 1.9% to 1.4%, prescription opioid misuse 3.0% to 2.4%, and past-month marijuana use up from 13.2% to 15.1%.
We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: NSDUH surveys the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older, so people in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, on active duty or unsheltered are not in it; SAMHSA states that estimates from 2021 onward are not comparable with 2020 or earlier, so no line here runs back further than 2021. A survey answer is not a diagnosis. Marijuana is past-month use, not a disorder; the two series are different questions and no causal link is stated by the report or claimed here.
Significant findings
The same survey that counts depression counts substances. On disorders: "Among people aged 12 or older, the percentage who had a past year SUD decreased from 16.7 percent (or 46.8 million people) in 2021 to 15.3 percent (or 44.6 million people) in 2025 (Figure 40 and Table A.26B). Percentages also decreased from 2021 to 2025 for each age group (Tables A.27B, A.28B, and A.29B). For example, the percentage of young adults aged 18 to 25 who had a past year SUD decreased from 26.2 percent" in 2021.
The report's tables, as served in the explorer: opioid use disorder 1.9 percent in 2021 and 1.4 percent in 2025; prescription opioid misuse 3.0 to 2.4 percent; prescription stimulant misuse flat at 1.4 percent.
Marijuana moved the other way: "Among people aged 12 or older, the percentage who used marijuana in the past month increased from 13.2 percent (or 37.0 million people) in 2021 to 15.1 percent (or 43.8 million people) in 2025 (Figure 13 and Table A.3B). Among adults aged 26 or older, the percentage who used marijuana in the past month also increased from 2021 to 2025."
A "substance use disorder" in the survey means the person's answers matched the DSM-5 criteria; "misuse" of a prescription drug means using it without a prescription of one's own or in a way a prescriber did not direct. Treatment for substance use is published for 2025 only: the report says "4 years of comparable data are not available to assess trends in the receipt of substance use treatment."
Worth asking
The disorder line and the marijuana line are answers to different questions, and the survey does not say one caused the other. What it does say is who it asked: people in households, dorms and shelters, not the people in jails, hospitals or on the street, where both numbers are higher than anything on this page.
Source
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH): what the survey measures, who it covers, and how it is fielded — Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (2026)
How this was scored
- Study design
- not recorded
- Funding
- not recorded
- Published in
- not recorded
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- not recorded
- Conflicts disclosed
- not recorded
- Independent of proponent
- not recorded
- Retracted
- No
We have not finished checking this source, so there is no scoring to show yet. “We have not checked this yet” and “this is disputed” are different statements, so no scored band is shown rather than a low one.
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Published September 17, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "not yet assessed". We have not finished checking this source. No judgement either way. One caveat travels with that badge: NSDUH surveys the civilian, noninstitutionalized population aged 12 or older, so people in hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, on active duty or unsheltered are not in it; SAMHSA states that estimates from 2021 onward are not comparable with 2020 or earlier, so no line here runs back further than 2021. A survey answer is not a diagnosis. Marijuana is past-month use, not a disorder; the two series are different questions and no causal link is stated by the report or claimed here. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH): what the survey measures, who it covers, and how it is fielded — Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (2026). The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.