Oregonians Smoke More Weed Than Tokers in States With Legal Rec Use

By KATE WILLSON

Smokers in Oregon, Alaska, Vermont and Rhode Island consume more weed than either Washington state or Colorado, which legalized recreational pot in 2012, according to an analysis by the Washington Post's Wonkblog.

Rhode Islanders smoked more pot per capita than another other state—about 13 percent of people who responded to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That's followed by Vermont, then Alaska. Oregon came in fourth with about 12 percent.

The survey was conducted in 2011 and 2012, before legalized weed laws went into effect in Washington and Colorado. Still it shows a a trend: only about 5 percent of people above the age of 26 regularly partake, but Alaska has the highest rate of older smokers.

"Alaska's 26-and-over crowd is the most likely to regularly use marijuana, at 11.18 percent," Wonkblog writes. "To put it another way, Alaska's adults are more likely to use marijuana than Utah's college-age crowd."

Voters in Oregon and Alaska are being asked this fall to join Colorado and Washington to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. 

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