Around 5.9 million kids live with a parent who smokes marijuana

At least 5.9 million children in the United States live with a parent who uses marijuana on most days, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, published in the journal Addictive Behaviors. The researchers call that a lower-bound estimate, based on what they describe as back-of-the-envelope math from population counts.

The study used the federal government's National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which interviewed 481,858 adults ages 18 to 64 from 2012 through 2024. It counted as parents anyone living with at least one of their own biological, foster, or adopted children under 18.

From rare to common. In 2012, about 1 in 80 parents used cannabis daily. By 2024 it was about 1 in 20, or 5.2%, according to the full paper. Use on the majority of days rose more than threefold, from 2.6% of parents to 8.0%. And 6.7% of parents met the criteria for cannabis use disorder, the clinical term for problem use, up from 4.4% in 2020, the first year the survey measured it.

Parents aren't unusual here. Their use rose almost exactly as fast as non-parents' did, and parents still use less overall: 6.3% of adults without kids at home used daily in 2024. The increases showed up in parents of almost every background the survey tracks.

The swap with alcohol. Drinking among parents held steady over the same 12 years. In 2012, parents were about as likely to drink every day as to use cannabis every day, 1.5% compared with 1.3%. In 2024, 5.2% used cannabis daily and 1.3% drank daily, so daily cannabis use was four times as common. Parents were also more likely to use cannabis than alcohol on the majority of days, 8.0% to 6.6%.

Alcohol use disorder is still more common than cannabis use disorder among parents, 10.2% to 6.7%. But the authors wrote that it "seems plausible that exposure to a parent's cannabis intoxication, rather than alcohol intoxication, is the more common experience for children in the U.S. today."

How they use it. Among parents who used on most days, 82% had smoked cannabis in the past month, 46% had vaped it, and 42% had eaten edibles. Nearly 1 in 5 had dabbed, which means vaporizing high-THC concentrates. That's the same mix non-parents use, and the authors noted it doesn't fit the idea that parents favor products that are easier to hide, produce less secondhand smoke, or are less potent.

What the study can't say. It didn't measure parenting or children's health, so it can't show that parents' cannabis use harms kids. The survey also didn't ask when or how much parents used, so researchers don't know how often children are around a parent who is high or breathing secondhand smoke. Parents may avoid using around their kids or wait until another caregiver is available, the authors wrote. Use was self-reported, and parents may underreport it.

Earlier research has tied parents' cannabis use to harsher or more lax parenting, child maltreatment, accidental ingestion by kids, secondhand smoke exposure, and teen cannabis use, the paper notes. Interview studies cited in the paper found some parents use it to manage the stress of parenting, and for parents with anxiety or chronic pain the effects could cut both ways, the authors wrote. The authors' main point is that research hasn't caught up: most work on parents' substance use still focuses on alcohol.

They also suggest pediatricians start asking. In one earlier survey of caregivers, only 10% had ever been asked about their cannabis use by their child's doctor.

Sources

• Pelham et al., Trends in cannabis use and cannabis use disorder among parents in the U.S., 2012-2024 (PubMed Central)
• Addictive Behaviors, volume 179 (2026)
• Fox News: Cannabis use disorder rising among US parents