I can only hope that the sex and rock music haven't similarly been destroyed. What a bunch of pussies.
Teen alcohol and drug use keeps declining
April Rubin, Axios News
Dec 30, 2024
Share of 12th graders who say they've used alcohol or marijuana in the last year, 1980 to 2024
Estimated from a nationally representative sample of students
A chart shows the share of 12th graders who say they've used alcohol and marijuana in the past year from 1980 to 2024. The chart shows a decline in alcohol use from about 85% in the 1980s to approximately 50% in 2024. Marijuana use fluctuates around 50% but also shows a decline in recent years.
Teen drug and alcohol use reached a record low this year, according to survey results released this month.
Why it matters: The downward trend began during the widespread isolation of the pandemic. Delaying first-time substance use until after adolescence could decrease addiction, researchers said.
Declines were most notable among alcohol, marijuana and nicotine vaping in the annual Monitoring the Future study of eighth, 10th and 12th grade students.
Nicotine pouch use was an exception. About 6% of 12th graders saying they've used them, up from about 3% in 2023.
By the numbers: Increases in abstention, which is considered no use within the previous 30 days, were statistically significant among 12th and 10th graders.
Alcohol: 42% of 12th graders reported consumption, down from 75% in 1997. Among 10th graders, it fell to 26% from 65%. And among eighth graders, it dropped to 13% from 46%.
Marijuana: Levels were the lowest they've been in the past three decades, at 26% for 12th graders and 16% for 10th graders.
Nicotine vaping: 12th grade use was 21% compared to 35% in 2020 and 19% in 2017.
State of play: Teen substance use dropped at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pattern tracks with young adults' shifting views of moderate drinking and their reduced reported consumption.
Experimentation often occurs with friends, and teens weren't socializing as much in the early years of the pandemic.
Experts believed that drug use would resurge once social distancing restrictions were lifted, per Richard Miech, principal investigator of the study. That hasn't happened.
The other side: Teen use of nicotine pouches increased significantly.
The FDA raised alarms about retailers selling nicotine pouches to underage consumers earlier this year. Pouches aren't listed by the FDA as recommended nicotine replacement products.
"It's hard to know if we're seeing the start of something, or not," Miech told the AP.
Products meant to help smokers ween off cigarettes can end up attracting youth users when they're freely on the market, experts told Axios earlier this year.
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