New Data Reveals Which Professions Attract The Most Weed Consumers

Public health officials in Colorado have just published the results of a recent survey aimed at learning more about people’s weed consumption habits. In particular, this study looked at the prevalence of cannabis use, broken down by various demographic categories including occupation. Interestingly, this new data reveals which professions attract the most weed consumers—at least in Colorado.

Patterns Among Weed Smokers

The report is based on results from a survey that asked 10,169 adult workers living in Colorado about cannabis consumption. Specifically, the survey asked respondents if they’d smoked weed in the prior 30 days. From there, researchers and analysts broke down responses according to demographic and employment information.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which published the study on its website, the survey aims to help employers “develop appropriately targeted workplace marijuana policies and safety awareness campaigns.”

Here are some of the key demographic findings from the survey:

• In Colorado, 14.6 percent of adult workers said they had consumed cannabis at least once in the previous 30 days.
• Men smoked more weed than women—17.2 percent of men and 11.3 percent of women said they’d consumed cannabis.
• White people smoked at the highest rate, with 15.3 percent of white respondents reporting weed use. Latinx folks were second, at 15.1 percent, and black people reported the lowest rates of consumption, at 14.5 percent.

As for the main focus of the survey, which was to look for cannabis use trends based on employment, here’s what researchers discovered:

• The “Food Preparation and Serving” industry had the most smokers, with a full 32.2 percent of people in that field reporting weed consumption.
• Other fields with relatively high proportions of weed smokers include “Construction and Extraction” (16.5 percent), “Farming, Fishing, and Forestry” (16.5 percent), and “Healthcare Support” (15.8 percent).
• On the opposite end of the spectrum, the “Protective Service” industry had one of the lowest rates of weed consumers. Just over six percent of people working in that field reported smoking weed.
• The “Healthcare and Technical” sector had the lowest rate of consumption, coming in at 3.1 percent.

Final Hit: New Data Reveals Which Professions Attract The Most Weed Consumers

These numbers may or may not accurately reflect trends in other locations. Among other variables, the legal status of cannabis may skew these trends from one location to another.

But looking at cannabis consumption trends in a state like Colorado may be helpful for other reasons. In particular, it could help predict what things might look like in places considering legalization.

Further, this survey could be helpful in efforts to address the tensions that often arise when there are discrepancies between law and workplace policies.

In many weed-legal states and cities, employers are still allowed to screen employees and potential employees for weed use. This has created tensions between employees who legally consume weed in their private lives, only to get in trouble for it at work.

Most recently, a Canadian worker won a case, getting his job back after being fired for allegedly smoking weed. The favorable ruling comes months before Canada is scheduled to make weed legal at the federal level.

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