Teen Drug Use Hits Record Low

(The Hill) A new study has experts beaming with hope as it shows teen drug use at a record low, but they admit confusion as to why the trend is happening and how to ensure it continues.  

The annual national Monitoring the Future survey found the use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes and e-cigarettes among high schoolers is at its lowest level since the study began. Two-thirds of 12th graders in the survey, which included 24,000 students in total, said they haven’t used any of those substances in the last 30 days, and 90 percent of eighth graders and 80 percent of 10th graders said the same.

That dovetails with other research, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found youth drug use fell from 2011-2021, with a particularly noticeable drop from 2019-2021.

But while the pandemic-era decrease was not surprising — teen substance use is typically a social phenomenon — what experts do find pleasantly perplexing is the lack of a rebound in the years since.

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