US Adolescent Substance Use Holding Steady or Declining: Highlights from the 2024 Monitoring the Future Survey
Substances of choice used in the previous 12 months were alcohol, nicotine vaping, and cannabis but the trends among the 8th, 10th, and 12th graders are very encouraging.
According to the most recent data from the National Institutes of Health's Monitoring the Future Survey, adolescent substance use has continued at the lower levels observed during the COVID-19 pandemic for the fourth consecutive year. Trends in the use of most drugs are either stable or declining, the NIH reported in a news release.
“This trend in the reduction of substance use among teenagers is unprecedented,” Nora D Volkow, MD, director of NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in the release. “We must continue to investigate factors that have contributed to this lowered risk of substance use to tailor interventions to support the continuation of this trend.”
The survey found that adolescents most commonly reported use of alcohol, nicotine vaping, and cannabis in the 12 months prior to the survey, and levels generally declined from or held steady with the lowered use reported over the past few years. The slides above highlight the levels in 2024 compared with those in 2023.
