5 hours Ago By Courtenay Harris Bond
The majority of teenagers in the U.S. do not drink, smoke or use marijuana, a new report shows.
The percentage of teens abstaining from alcohol, tobacco and marijuana in 2024 was the highest since 2017, when the annual Monitoring the Future study began tracking the figure. The percentage of 12th-grade students who abstained from drug use was 67% in 2024, compared to 53% in 2017. Similarly, the percentage of 10th-graders who abstained rose from 69% to 80%.
Abstention rates remained fairly level for eighth-graders, rising from 87% to 90%. Abstention was defined as not having used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes or e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. "I expected adolescent drug use would rebound at least partially after the large declines that took place during the (COVID-19) pandemic onset in 2020, which were among the largest ever recorded," said Richard Miech, who led the study at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research.
"Many experts in the field had anticipated that drug use would resurge as the pandemic receded and social distancing restrictions were lifted. As it turns out, the declines have not only lasted but have dropped further." The use of nicotine pouches, however, doubled among 12th-graders between 2023 and 2024, the survey found.
Nicotine pouches – which can be easily concealed inside the cheek – do not contain tobacco but contain nicotine, a highly-addictive stimulant that is particularly dangerous to adolescents whose brains are still developing, according to Yale Medicine . The use of nicotine pouches went up among 12th-graders to 6% in 2024; among 10th-graders, usage rose from 2% to 3% The decreases in alcohol use follow a downward trajectory that began in the late 1990s. In 2024, 42% of 12th-graders reported using alcohol in the past 12 months, a substantial drop from 75% in 1997.
Among 10th-graders, the percentage fell to 26% from 65% and, among eight-graders, it dropped to 13% from 46%. Marijuana use also declined among 12th- and 10th-graders to 26% and 16%, respectively, the lowest levels in 30 years. Eighth-graders remained at 7% for the fourth year in a row, down from a pre-pandemic level of 11% in 2020, the report showed.
Vaping rates spiked between 2017 and 2019, leveled off in 2020 and plunged during the pandemic. Vaping rates continued to decline in 2024 to 21% among 12th-graders, compared to 35% in 2020 and 19% in 2017; 15% among 10th-graders, compared to 31% in 2020 and 16% in 2017; and 10% among eighth-graders, compared to 17% in 2020 and 10% in 2017, according to the report. The findings suggest a delay in drug use initiation during adolescence may lower substance use rates over a lifetime, Miech said.
The report is the result of ongoing national surveys of adolescents and adults in the United States, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The 2024 report is the 50th consecutive annual survey of 12th-graders and the 34th of 10th- and eighth-graders. The surveys are conducted in schools with a nationally-representative cross-section of students.
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