Although federal officials chose to emphasize the findings on marijuana, the report actually presented data on a dozen types of drugs, including alcohol and tobacco. For instance, 20 percent of Americans reported binge drinking within the past month, with North Dakota reporting the highest level of binge drinking among the states. "The further north you are, typically, the more alcohol is consumed," said Douglas Wright, a government statistician who worked on the report.

Nationally, 5.1 percent of Americans said they had used marijuana within the past 30 days. But in Boston, the rate was 12.2 percent, and 10.3 percent of Boulder-area residents reported current marijuana use. Both cities are big college towns.

"College students in general have a more relaxed attitude about marijuana than other age groups," said John Auerbach, executive director of Boston's public-health commission. "But in general, I don't think Boston has a markedly differently perspective on marijuana than other parts of the country."

Boulder County public-health director Chuck Stout said he doubted that local University of Colorado students used marijuana more than students at other schools nationally. "Where you have concentrations of younger, active people, you'll have more experimentation with a variety of risk behaviors, but that's true for so many other parts of the country as well," he said. "I think this [report] is a huge stretch."

The lowest rates of marijuana use were found in northwestern Iowa and southern Texas.

Government officials said the regional reports could help states better focus their prevention and treatment resources.

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