Cannabis Use Among Teens Plummets To 30-Year Low, Study Finds

Federally funded survey data provided by the University of Michigan indicates that teen marijuana use has declined significantly over the past decade and is now at historic lows.

Consistent with data previously reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the University of Michigan’s annual Monitoring the Future report finds that cannabis use by young people is at a 30-year low. The federally funded Monitoring the Future survey has been operating since 1975.

This year’s findings are based on responses from about 24,000 students in grades 8, 10 and 12 in schools across the U.S. The survey is “one of the best, if not the best” source of national data for substance use by teens, said Noah Kreski, a Columbia University researcher who has studied teen drug use, noted the AP.

In a Dec. 17 press release issued by the National Institutes of Health on the same day of the report, Nora Volkow, M.D., director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse described the overall decline in substance use by young people as “unprecedented.”

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“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented,” Volkow said. “We must continue to investigate factors that have contributed to this lowered risk of substance use to tailor interventions to support the continuation of this trend.” 

Over the past 10 years, during which time 24 states legalized adult-use marijuana sales, the percentage of 8th graders, 10th graders and 12 graders who reported having ever consumed cannabis declined 32%, 37% and 23%, respectively, according to the study.

“Sensational claims that adult-use legalization laws are linked with greater marijuana use by teens are simply not backed by reliable data,” said Paul Armentano, deputy director  of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “These findings ought to reassure lawmakers that cannabis access can be legally regulated in a manner that is safe, effective, and that does not inadvertently impact young people’s habits.”

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.