A half-century-long study monitoring the use of illicit drugs and alcohol among the nation’s youth has found “historically large decreases” in drug use among teens.
The most recent update from the University of Michigan’s “Monitoring the Future” study showed that during the pandemic, drug and alcohol use plummeted among teens, and further, that this trend only broadened in 2024.
Richard Miech, who headed the study, said he was surprised by the findings.
“I expected adolescent drug use would rebound at least partially after the large declines that took place during the pandemic onset in 2020,” he said, but this rebound never occurred.
The study polled more than 24,000 high school students in the 8th, 10th, and 12th grades from more than 270 schools across the nation. Students from both public and private schools were part of the study.
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Miech said in a press release that youth abstention from drugs during the pandemic was the largest ever decrease recorded but experts expected “that drug use would resurge as the pandemic receded and social distancing restrictions were lifted.“ However, “as it turns out… the declines have not only lasted but have dropped further,” he said.
Unlike in the past, the majority of teens are reporting no use of drugs at all, with 67 percent of high school seniors saying they have abstained from drugs, including cannabis, alcohol, and smoking or vaping nicotine for over two years.
This is up from 53 percent in 2017 when the Monitoring the Future study first began measuring drug and alcohol use among this cohort.
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Declines across the board
The report showed a significant drop in drug and alcohol use among the majority of students polled.
While alcohol use among eighth graders remained around the same in 2024 compared to 2023 at 12.9 percent, the use of alcohol in the past 12 months in the other two grades surveyed dropped from 30.6 percent in 2023 to 26.1 percent in 2024.
Nicotine vaping and smoking remained stable in 2024 amongst eighth and 12th graders at 9.6 percent and 21 percent respectively, however among 10th graders the use of nicotine dropped from 17.6 percent to 15.4 percent.
Cannabis, which has been legalized for recreational use in a number of jurisdictions, also saw its use plummet among older teens.
“Cannabis use remained stable for the younger grades, with 7.2% of eighth graders and 15.9% of 10th graders reporting cannabis use in the past 12 months. Cannabis use declined among 12th graders, with 25.8% reporting cannabis use in the past 12 months (compared to 29.0% in 2023). Of note, 5.6% of eighth graders, 11.6% of 10th graders, and 17.6% of 12th graders reported vaping cannabis within the past 12 months, reflecting a stable trend among all three grades,” the study says.
Use of illicit drugs other than cannabis saw a significant decrease, with only 3.4 percent of eighth graders reporting their use in the past 12 months in 2024 compared to 4.6 percent in 2023.
The use of these types of drugs remained stable for the other two grades polled.
“These data build on long-term trends documenting low and declining use of illicit substances reported among teenagers – including past-year use of cocaine, heroin, and misuse of prescription drugs, generally,” per the report.
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An enduring and welcome trend
The most recent findings reveal that more and more teens are completely abstaining from all alcohol and narcotic use, with 89.5 percent of eighth graders reporting no use within the past 30 days in 2024. In addition, 10th graders reported that 80.2 percent of this cohort have abstained over the past 30 days and 67.1 percent of 12th graders did the same. For 12th graders, this is an increase of abstention from 62.6 percent in 2023.
“Kids who were in eighth grade at the start of the pandemic will be graduating from high school this year, and this unique cohort has ushered in the lowest rates of substance use we’ve seen in decades,” Miech said, adding that “Even as the drugs, culture, and landscape continue to evolve in future years, the Monitoring the Future survey will continue to nimbly adapt to measure and report on these trends – just as it has done for the past 50 years.”
The data was collected via a web survey, with 99 percent of respondents taking the survey in-person while in school in 2024.
The data shows a steady decline in alcohol use since 2000 in all grades polled
“The decreases in alcohol use in 2024 continue a long-term, overall decline that has taken place since the year 2000 in all three grades. From 2000 to 2024 past 12-month prevalence has decreased from 73% to 42% in 12th grade, from 65% to 26% in 10th grade, and from 43% to 13% in 8th grade,” the study says.
In a statement, Nora Volkow, the director of the NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, said, “This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented. 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.”
