Federally Funded Survey: Cannabis Use By Teens Hits Historic Low

WASHINGTON, D.C- (NORML) Federally funded survey data provided by the University of Michigan reports 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.

In the past decade alone, 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 percent, 37 percent, and 23 percent respectively.

The percentage of 8th graders, 10th graders, and 12 graders who reported using cannabis in the past year fell 38 percent, 42 percent, and 26 percent respectively.

The percentage of 8th graders, 10th graders, and 12 graders who reported using cannabis in the past month declined 34 percent, 43 percent, and 34 percent respectively.

In a press release issued by the National Institutes on Health, Nora Volkow — Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse — described the overall decline in substance use by young people as “unprecedented.”

Commenting on the federal survey data, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “Sensational claims that adult-use legalization laws are linked with greater marijuana use by teens are simply not backed by reliable data. 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.”

In a syndicated op-ed published earlier this year, NORML highlighted the long-term decline in teen marijuana use, stating: “Those wedded to the status quo of cannabis criminalization have long warned that legalizing the marijuana market will result in increased adolescent use. But 10 years following the first states’ decisions to legalize and regulate adult-use cannabis sales, data conclusively shows that this fear was unfounded.”

Additional information is available from the NORML Fact Sheet, ‘Marijuana Regulation and Teen Use Rates.’