This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Marijuana use rises as alcohol consumption dips among US students
The number of students trying marijuana vaping is on the rise while binge-drinking rates have seen a five-year decline, a new study has shown.
The 2019 Monitoring the Future survey found the number of 12th grade students vaping marijuana rose in 2019
The 2019 Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey, which is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), polled 42,531 students from 396 public and private schools across America.
The survey found that 20.8% of 12th graders, those aged 18-19, reported vaping marijuana in the past year and 19.4% of 10th graders, students aged 15-16, said they had done the same.
The number of 12th grade students that said they had vaped marijuana in the past month “nearly doubled” to reach 14%.
For the first time, the survey measured daily marijuana vaping, which was reported at 3.5% among 12th graders, 3% among 10th graders, and 0.8% among eighth graders – students aged 13-14.
According to the survey, marijuana continues to be the most commonly used illicit drug by adolescents. The study found overall usage rates remained steady, with 35.7% of 12th graders, 28.8% of 10th graders and 11.8% of eighth graders saying they have used the drug.
While overall cannabis use among students remained steady, alcohol consumption over the past year saw a “significant five-year drop” among 10th and 12th graders – now at 37.7% and 52.1% respectively.
The report also found a five-year decrease in binge drinking in 10th and 12th grades. The MTF found 14.4% of 12th graders binge drank in 2019 compared to 19.4% in 2014. Among 10th graders, binge drinking dropped from 12.6% in 2014 to 8.5% this year.
Past year rates of any illicit drug use, other than marijuana, remain relatively low among 12th graders; past year use was 3.6% for LSD; 3.3% for synthetic cannabinoids; 2.2% for both cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy); and 0.4% for heroin. Other drug use, including the misuse of prescription medicines and the use of alcohol as well as tobacco cigarettes, continues to decline.
NIDA director, Dr Nora Volkow, said: “We are heartened to see the continuing decline in the use of many drugs, particularly non-medical use of prescription opioids; however, teens are clearly attracted to vaping products, which are often concentrated amounts of drugs disguised as electronic gadgets.
“Their growing popularity threatens to undo years of progress protecting the health of adolescents in the US.”