According to the results of an annual survey conducted by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, nearly as many Alaskans smoke marijuana as tobacco.
According to the 2015 Alaska Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System report, 19.2 percent of adult Alaskans reported smoking cigarettes on a regular basis. In 2015, according to figures from the health department, 16 percent of Alaskans reported using marijuana in some form during the previous 30 days.
Those figures come with a few caveats: chewing tobacco and snuff aren’t included, while edible, drinkable and dabbed marijuana products are. In addition, the marijuana question asked whether someone had used at least once in the previous 30 days, while the cigarette question sought “regular” or “frequent” users.
The statistics were published in a report released this month that highlights the findings of the 2015 survey.
The survey also found that 37.3 percent of Alaskans are overweight and 29.5 percent are obese, based on body-mass index.
The proportion of overweight Alaskans has been on a gradual decline since 2001, when 41.5 percent of Alaskan adults were classified as overweight.
The proportion of obese Alaskans, however, has been on the rise in recent years. Only 13.4 percent of Alaskans were considered obese in 1991, when surveys began. That proportion had risen to 22 percent by 2001 and is now at historic highs. (The 2014 figure of 29.7 percent is the highest mark.)
A version of surveillance system survey is conducted in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is one of the most significant surveys on chronic disease and public health in the world.
